Beyond mixed metaphors of networks: applying social network analysis to study #PublicAuthority and governance

Patrycja Stys explores how using Social Network Analysis (SNA) can improve our understanding of public authority

Trust, quality, and the network collection experience: a tale of two studies on the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Data collection in social network research has advanced to include online questionnaires, digital metadata mining of internet sites, and the use of remote-sensing technologies. Some scholars however call for more attention to nuanced understandings of ties and contexts in studies of social structure and relationships, evoking practices that characterise the field’s foundational works. This article’s two studies reference these earlier efforts, drawing on ethnography and primary data collection. Both were undertaken in conflict-affected eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and broadly aimed to refine understandings of public authority and governance. Such research strives to inform humanitarian interventions to support social structures and actors which benefit their communities – however unexpected and unconventional. The first study (2016) employed a novel link-tracing design to examine personal support networks entwining purportedly hostile sub-populations, from combatants to unaffiliated civilians. The second (2018−20) focussed on access to essential social services across different governance arrangements, areas dominated by tenuous alliances of domestic or foreign militias and other actors. Leveraging an egocentric network design, it yielded multilevel relational network chain data. Each study was rife with obstacles related to accessing participants, sampling, reliability, and validity. We reflect on this network collection experience, foregrounding the interdependence between trust and data quality brought into stark relief by the setting’s instability and insecurity. This interdependency impacts all social network research, especially when it involves precarious contexts or sensitive topics

Urban water access and use in the Kivus: evaluating behavioural outcomes following an integrated WASH intervention in Goma and Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo

Increasing the availability and reliability of community water sources is a primary pathway through which many water supply interventions aim to achieve health gains in communities with limited access to water. While previous studies in rural settings have shown that greater access to water is associated both with increased overall consumption of water and use of water for hygiene related activities, there is limited evidence from urban environments. Using data collected from 1253 households during the evaluation of a community water supply governance and hygiene promotion intervention in the cities of Goma and Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, we conducted a secondary analysis to determine the impact of these interventions on household water collection and use habits. Using multiple and logistic regression models we compared differences in outcomes of interest between households in quartiers with and without the intervention. Outcomes of interest included litres per capita day (lpcd) of water brought to the household, lpcd used at the household, and lpcd used for hygiene-related activities. Results demonstrated that intervention households were more likely to use community tapstands than households located in comparison quartiers and collected on average 16.3 lpcd of water, compared with 13.5 lpcd among comparison households (adj. coef: 3.2, 95 CI: 0.84 to 5.53, p = 0.008). However, reported usage of water in the household for domestic purposes was lower among intervention households (8.2 lpcd) when compared with comparison households (9.4 lpcd) (adj. coef: −1.11, 95 CI: −2.29 to 0.07), p = 0.066) and there was no difference between study groups in the amount of water allocated to hygiene activities. These results show that in this setting, implementation of a water supply governance and hygiene promotion intervention was associated with a modest increase in the amount of water being bought to the household, but that this did not translate into an increase in either overall per capita consumption of water or the per capita amount of water being allocated to hygiene related activities

Brokering between (not so) overt and (not so) covert networks in conflict zones

There is a tendency to consider covert networks as separate from overt networks. Drawing on data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we demonstrate that this is not the case and identify how covert and overt networks are mutually constitutive. While most studies of African brokers have relied on network metaphors like ‘Big Men’ and ‘social membranes’, we consider the embeddedness of ‘covert’ networks in ‘overt’ networks explicitly. We perform two analyses on a large original dataset encompassing 396 partially overlapping ego-nets obtained from a hybrid link-tracing design. An ego-net analysis reveals a large degree of homophily and a deep embeddedness of the different networks. A multilevel exponential random graph model fitted to the reconstructed network of a 110-node subset shows that demobilised combatants are the actors likely to broker between armed groups, state forces, and civilian blocs, suggesting their capacity to broker peace or foment war

Crisis responses, opportunity, and public authority during Covid-19's first wave in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.

Funder: Knowledge FrontiersDiscussions on African responses to Covid-19 have focused on the state and its international backers. Far less is known about a wider range of public authorities, including chiefs, humanitarians, criminal gangs, and armed groups. This paper investigates how the pandemic provided opportunities for claims to and contests over power in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan. Ethnographic research is used to contend that local forms of public authority can be akin to miniature sovereigns, able to interpret dictates, policies, and advice as required. Alongside coping with existing complex protracted emergencies, many try to advance their own agendas and secure benefits. Those they seek to govern, though, do not passively accept the new normal, instead often challenging those in positions of influence. This paper assesses which of these actions and reactions will have lasting effects on local notions of statehood and argues for a public authorities lens in times of crisis

'With no direction home': refugee resistance against repatriation in Africa's Great Lakes region since 1994

Why do refugees in Africa's Great Lakes Region refuse to repatriate? This thesis offers a detailed examination of this question through a comparative study of Rwandan and Congolese refugee communities across three countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The policies of international agencies and local governments are assessed against the lived experiences, responses, and perceptions of refugees through first-hand research, undertaken in eighteen sites across the region during extensive fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2013. The pervasiveness and intensity of reactions amongst refugees against repatriation is forceful and striking. Conversely, it is aggressively promoted and implemented by international actors, home, and host states. The thesis examines the interactions that occur as refugees seek to remain 'in exile', whilst international actors and regional states seek to coerce them to repatriate, and investigates the mechanisms that underpin this stalemate. The principal chapters of this thesis address the themes of (i) acculturation, de facto integration, and de jure segregation; (ii) conceptualisations of rights secured through refugee status; (iii) information concerning homelands and its diffusion in exile; and (iv) experiences of return. It is shown that refugee communities are adept at articulating past and present grievances, and are critically aware of their human rights in the context of their exile. The international protection of exile is perceived as a pseudo-citizenship that secures more rights than those accorded citizens in their states of origin. These communities maintain a wealth of information concerning their homelands, the diffusion of this knowledge being determined by connections between sites of exile, shaping it into accepted and collective communal narratives. This collective consciousness of status selectively reinforces refugees' resolve against repatriation. When repatriation is forced or frustrated, its experience is integrated into communal narratives of persecution, generating further grievance and reifying resistance to return.</p

'With no direction home': refugee resistance against repatriation in Africa's Great Lakes region since 1994

Why do refugees in Africa's Great Lakes Region refuse to repatriate? This thesis offers a detailed examination of this question through a comparative study of Rwandan and Congolese refugee communities across three countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The policies of international agencies and local governments are assessed against the lived experiences, responses, and perceptions of refugees through first-hand research, undertaken in eighteen sites across the region during extensive fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2013. The pervasiveness and intensity of reactions amongst refugees against repatriation is forceful and striking. Conversely, it is aggressively promoted and implemented by international actors, home, and host states. The thesis examines the interactions that occur as refugees seek to remain 'in exile', whilst international actors and regional states seek to coerce them to repatriate, and investigates the mechanisms that underpin this stalemate. The principal chapters of this thesis address the themes of (i) acculturation, de facto integration, and de jure segregation; (ii) conceptualisations of rights secured through refugee status; (iii) information concerning homelands and its diffusion in exile; and (iv) experiences of return. It is shown that refugee communities are adept at articulating past and present grievances, and are critically aware of their human rights in the context of their exile. The international protection of exile is perceived as a pseudo-citizenship that secures more rights than those accorded citizens in their states of origin. These communities maintain a wealth of information concerning their homelands, the diffusion of this knowledge being determined by connections between sites of exile, shaping it into accepted and collective communal narratives. This collective consciousness of status selectively reinforces refugees' resolve against repatriation. When repatriation is forced or frustrated, its experience is integrated into communal narratives of persecution, generating further grievance and reifying resistance to return.</p

Brokering between (not so) overt and (not so) covert networks in conflict zones.

There is a tendency to consider covert networks as separate from overt networks. Drawing on data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we demonstrate that this is not the case and identify how covert and overt networks are mutually constitutive. While most studies of African brokers have relied on network metaphors like 'Big Men' and 'social membranes', we consider the embeddedness of 'covert' networks in 'overt' networks explicitly. We perform two analyses on a large original dataset encompassing 396 partially overlapping ego-nets obtained from a hybrid link-tracing design. An ego-net analysis reveals a large degree of homophily and a deep embeddedness of the different networks. A multilevel exponential random graph model fitted to the reconstructed network of a 110-node subset shows that demobilised combatants are the actors likely to broker between armed groups, state forces, and civilian blocs, suggesting their capacity to broker peace or foment war