Highlights
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- I investigate the role of networking organizations in Canada’s food movements.
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- Networking strategies connect actors across sectors, scales and places.
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- Networking strategies assist in scaling-up the work of local food initiatives.
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- Organizational structures impact the ability to foster and sustain collaboration.
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- Tensions must be addressed preemptively in order to sustain the network’s activity.
Abstract
Social
movement organizations (SMOs) play an important role in movement
building, however, the particular context and structure of a SMO has a
direct impact on its ability to foster and sustain collaboration. In
this paper I investigate the unique positioning of provincial networking
organizations (PNOs) in Canadian food movements and document their
efforts to support alternative food initiatives (AFIs) to interact and
act collaboratively for food system change. The research draws on a
network survey, over 35 in-depth interviews, site visits, and background
information collected in three Canadian provinces to explore the
ongoing work necessary for linking together heterogeneous elements
without central coordinating mechanisms. I describe the ways that PNOs
have established a series of common networking strategies to bring AFIs
together across sectors, scales and places: (1) the creation of physical
spaces that involve direct contact in particular places; (2) the
development of virtual spaces where connections are mediated through
digital technologies; and (3) the use of scalar strategies that scale-up
local projects to address provincial level policy. I conclude by
identifying key areas of contention that arise within the networks, and
show that the different structures of the PNOs impact their ability to
establish and implement networking strategies. I argue that addressing
these challenges must be a preemptive focus in order to sustain
networking activity. My contention that contemporary structures of
social mobilization require novel strategies and support from networking
organizations provides insight for studies of SMOs and movement
building more broadly.
Keywords
- Alternative food initiatives;
- Food movements;
- Networks;
- Networking strategies;
- Politics of scale;
- Social movement organizations
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