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Concept Essay Two: Leveraging Informal Networks for Survival Politics

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The Living Politics of Self-Help Movements in East Asia

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Abstract

Informal networks play a crucial role in survival politics. They are the most important resource for people in survival situations such as natural disasters and grassroots environmental struggles. In this concept essay, Uchralt Otede outlines three key types of informal networks: first, personal networks, made up of relatives, friends, and people from the neighbourhood; second, informal issue-specific networks such as emergency flood-relief networks or citizen radioactivity measuring stations; and third, Internet-based information exchange networks, such as a data collection system for flooding or for local river protection. The differences between informal networks, NGOs, and other social organizations are discussed from the perspective of survival politics, and the essay concludes with an introduction to the two case study chapters which follow.

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Notes

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    Shi Fayong, “Guanxi Wangluo yu Dangdai Zhongguo Jiceng Shehui Yundong: Yige Jiequ Huanbao Yundong Ge’an Weili,” Shehuixue Renleixue Zhongguowang, March 4, 2007, accessed on November 10, 2016, https://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sachina.edu.cn%2FHtmldata%2Farticle%2F2006%2F04%2F965.html&anno=2

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    Tong, “Dongyuan Jegou yu Ziran bayou Yundong de Fazhan,” 185–191.

  15. 15.

    Heilmann and Muse, “The Use of Informal Networks to Resolve Logistics-Related Issues in Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response,” 67.

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    Roasa, “The D.I.Y Disaster Plan,” 6.

  17. 17.

    Morris-Suzuki, “Invisible Politics,” 60.

  18. 18.

    Shi, “Guanxi Wangluo yu Dangdai Zhongguo Jiceng Shehui Yundong: Yige Jiequ Huanbao Yundong Ge’an Weili,” 13.

  19. 19.

    Morris-Suzuki, “Invisible Politics,” 60.

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    Margherita Viviani, “Chinese Independent Documentary Films: Alternative Media, Public Spheres and the Emergence of the Citizen Activist,” Asian Studies Review, 38, no. 1 (2014), 115.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Uchralt Otede

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  1. Uchralt Otede
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Tom Cliff

  2. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Tessa Morris-Suzuki

  3. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Shuge Wei

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Otede, U. (2018). Concept Essay Two: Leveraging Informal Networks for Survival Politics. In: Cliff, T., Morris-Suzuki, T., Wei, S. (eds) The Living Politics of Self-Help Movements in East Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6337-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6337-4_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6336-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6337-4

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