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“Social Networks and Temporalities” (2018/1). Call for papers for Temporalités n°27

An issue coordinated by Claire Bidart (LEST UMR 7317, CNRS, AMU) and Michel Grossetti (LISST UMR 5193, CNRS, UT2J)

How do relational systems develop ? How to describe the complex dynamics they are driven by? A network is composed of entities and of the connections between entities, in a global system which is also subject to changes in its structure and composition. Entities, connections and structure are all involved in distinct streams of change. Within social networks connecting together social entities – such as individuals, organizations, activities, products… (Degenne et Forsé, 2004) – what kind of temporalities, also social, can be seen at work, driving shifts and evolutions?

These issues have been researched in various fields of social science: sociology, history, economy, geography, political science, management science… Physics and computing can also help identify certain dynamics within social systems, most of the time relying on “big data”.

By focusing merely on social networks, this issue of Temporalités aims at bringing together studies striving to examine the temporalities involved in the shifts of relational systems.

By social networks we mean “dyadic” relationship systems (binding together two entities), with or without a digital device to support them, following the tradition of “social network analysis”. This research tradition has developed methods for building and analysing relational data, which take into account the specificity of networks as a social form which coexists and interacts with various collective forms (organizations, collectives, circles, instruments, texts…). In the emerging process of any social form, networks are involved (White, 2011). It is therefore important to better describe the dynamics of relationships between entities (Emirbayer, 1997). Network analysis itself more and more frequently includes a temporal approach (Social Networks, 1997). This issue of Temporalités whishes to highlight the diversity and input of temporal perspectives within network analysis.

At least three major angles to tackle the study of social networks can be identified.

“Comprehensive” networks appear when the limits of a group of people or of a group of collectives are outlined according to a predetermined characteristic (for instance, the fact that they belong to an organization or share the same activity) – a group within which research aims at characterizing internal relationships with maximum exhaustivity, working on one given issue. Through this, networks are produced, which may be represented with graphs. If the data is sufficient, one same group can be researched at different times and the evolution of its networks be analysed. This angle works well along with the analysis of changes within organizations or outlined political or professional fields. A classic example of this is John Padgett’s and Christopher Ansell’s article about leading families in Florence in the XVth century (Padgett and Ansell, 1993).

“Personal” networks are built upon the connections of one same person. Most of the time, this approach involves first selecting people separately, then identifying around each of them a “social circle” constituted by the connections this person has with other people (which may be limited to either just a handful of close acquaintances or to a few dozen relationships). The relationships between the members of the entourage, which constitutes the personal network, are also to be described. The time factor may be taken into account through the construction of networks at different times, and by explorating their evolutions. This approach works well with studies along the lines of “the life path”, because biographical changes translate into and contribute to the evolution of the person’s social networks.

The angle of “a chain of connections” is interesting in the sense that it focuses more directly on temporality, because it consists in documenting the processes through which relationships are activated during the access to some given resources. Through this approach, the different sequences which make up the processes through which resources are accessed can be studied according to different contexts, possibly at different times. Mark Granovetter’s study (1995) on finding employment is a good example.

The question of temporalities has to do with the evolution of networks as social structures, as well as with the evolution of the entities they are composed of, and also with the evolution of the relationships by themselves (the times at which they emerge, then become stronger or weaker, the times of interconnections and possibly, of their final breaking). Prevailingly, networks are represented in an illusion of immediacy. Whereas they are always the result of temporal layering; they have been built little by little, through subsequent additions, relationships are not synchronous and their structure is always moving. Networks are partially renewed at an internally heterogenous and diverse pace. While certain relationships or certain elements persist, others change, the overall structure persists while the entities have changed, or it changes but with the same entities… The continuity of connections and of certain structured elements (triads, clusters) is diverse, some are guaranteed to last better while other will remain short-lived. The overall structure of a network, in return, has some effect on the durability of these elements. Some long-lasting relationships are confirmed in their durability. More widely, social and historical contexts are involved in the pace at which networks will change. Networks bring together past, present and future effects.

Proposals for articles for this issue should concentrate on relationships or social networks understood in the sense exposed above and considered in their connection with issues concerned by temporalities.

May be examined, amongst other themes:

  • Temporalities of interpersonal relationships: how are relationships created, how do they evolve and possibly come to an end? How is the pace of one person’s relationships coordinated or dissociated? Are there any interferences?

  • Frequency of interactions and evolution of relationships: is there a connection between the frequency of interactions and the strength of a relationship? How do people usually “manage” the pace and the nature of interactions within relationships?

  • Networks within the life path: how do networks evolve along the path, in accordance to biographical changes either connected to life cycles or more specifically connected to less foreseeable events (Temporalités, 2010, n°11)?

  • The evolution of social networks within collectives: may one grasp, by the means of longitudinal or retrospective studies, progressive or more bifurcative transformations of networks?

  • The temporality of the activation of chains of connections. What impact has the length of time necessary to activate such a chain? More specifically, what is the impact of the length of time taken by some people to respond? What about the synchonization/desynchronization of chains activated within one same sequence (for instance, someone looking for employment may have activated several relationships embedded in different chains more or less connected to each other)?

  • Can temporal schemes be identified, that impact relationships, their long-lastingness or their activation? For instance, will an emergency or “crisis” situation, individual or collective, translate into an attitude to connections and to the way they are mobilized?

  • Is it possible to identify typical relational or reticular dynamics? For instance, cascade effects, percolation, preferential attachment, the closing of triads are often identified as dynamics. Can such dynamics be indentified in social networks and is it possible to describe precisely the conditions in which they become effective? Do they have to do with the characteristics of entities, with the quality of connections, with the global layout of the network, or with a wider context? Do they depend upon wider temporalities (sequences, paces, cycles, events, combinatory processes…)?

  • Interpersonal relationships have a history as social forms. Whereas notions like friendship are ancient, the conceptions of interpersonal relationships and networks have emerged and changed over the centuries. Historical research can also highlight shorter-termed evolutions in family or notables networks, or in activity, organization, registered titles networks, etc. Works by historians on these issues would be welcome.

This issue hopes to shed light on the connections between temporalities and networks, at these different levels. It will favour longitudinal or retrospective, historical, biographical or organisational perspectives, which will be able to bring out and compare evolutions, different moments in relationships or in the composition and structure of social networks, their pace of change, dynamics at various scales, sequences, events, transformations.

Submission of proposals

Authors should send their proposals for articles to the coordinators of the issue, Claire Bidart (claire.bidart@univ-amu.fr) and Michel Grossetti (rgros@univ-tlse2.fr)— copying the editorial secretariat (temporalites@revues.org).

The proposal should comprise a title and a one-page abstract of the proposed article (maximum 5000 characters) as well as the name, the contact address and institutional affiliation of the author, and should be sent until September 15, 2017.

Planning and deadlines

Submission of proposals: 15 September 2017
Reply from coordinators: 15 October 2017
Submission of papers: 15 December 2017
Feedback following appraisal by referees: 1 February 2018
Submission of revised version: 2 April 2018
Publication: 15 June 2018

Bibliographie

Degenne A., Forsé M., 2004. Les réseaux sociaux, A. Colin, Paris.

Emirbayer M., 1997. “Manifesto for a Relational Sociology”, The American Journal of Sociology, 103-2, p. 281-317

Granovetter M., 1995. Getting a job. A Study of Contacts and Careers, Chicago University Press

Padgett J., Ansell C.,. 1993. “Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 98, No. 6, May, pp. 1259-1319

Social Networks, 1997. “Change in Networks”, Vol. 19, n° 1.

Temporalités 11, 2010. “Les parcours individuels dans leurs contextes”, dossier coordonné par Didier Demazière et Olivia Samuel. http://temporalites.revues.org/1166

White H., 2011. Identité et contrôle. Une théorie de l’émergence des formations sociales. Traduit et présenté par Frédéric Godart et Michel Grossetti, Éditions de L’EHESS.

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