Agency and Social Networks: Strategies of Action in a Social Structure of Position, Opposition, and Opportunity
研究用社会运动概念解释小城市中组织网络里的行动者如何根据政治机会结构、是否面临对立以及自身网络位置，选择不同策略来影响环境政策，发现边缘行动者在有利条件下也能成功。
This study uses social movement concepts to explain the success and failure of actors in a network of relationships trying to influence policies on environmental issues in a small city. Results show that strategies to take action and mobilize others in a network of interorganizational relationships can vary depending on the social context, which consists of the political opportunity structure defined by government regulators, whether the actor faces opposition, and the actor's position in the network. Decisions to engage in strategies to try to influence government regulators directly, to use a broker to reach agreements with the opposition, or to form a coalition with actors in other organizations to influence government decision makers are affected by this social context. Results also show that even peripheral actors, usually assumed to be powerless in network studies, can influence policy if they use a direct-contact strategy and the political opportunity structure is favorable.