"Tensed Networks: Balancing and Focusing N_etwork Dynamics," by Anthony Judge, in Transnational Associations Journal, No, 78, pp. ' 480-485 reprint available from: Union otlnternational Associations 1 Rue Aµx Laines· Brussels, Belgium 1000 Anthony Judge is an astute interpreter. of social network analysis theories as they relate to cooperative problemsolving. The massive Yearbook of World Problems and Human Potential (published by the Union of International •Associations and edited by Judge) describes world organizations, cooperative problem solving techniques, and problems as viewed by the world organizations that need solving. In "Tensed Networks," Judge describes what he calls "flabby" networks, ones that do not seek unlike elements (people), and using classic Bucky Fuller concepts he supports the notion that balance in network development is dependent on there being both compatibility (tension which holds the J]etwork together) and confrontation (compression) which moves network building forward. "The B~ic Paradigm of a Future SocioCultural System," by Virginia H. Hine, Journal of Community Communications, Volume Ill, No. 3, September 1979 A summary of research done along with anthropologist Luther P. Gerlach on "movements." Hine importantly points out that non_-vertical organizational structures (no,n-hierarchical and . non-bureaucratic), such.as networks are not only growing within "movements'' on the grass-roots ends of things but that also n~tworks 6f individuals• and organizations that cross many boundaries in fac~ constitute a power structure that is eclipsing the power of nation-states. "The rise of a managerial elite provi.des a linking mechanism. Networks of personal ties are formed as corporate executives move from one hierarchy to ~mother in their ascent to positions of global influence." Self-Help Networks Self-help is a popular buzzword, along with other seventies "self words" like self-education, se.lf-reliance, self-determination, etc. (looking up "self-" in the dictionary is an interesting pa.rlor game). It is an important yet flexible concept. • • • In traditional bur;1an services the old adage abou( teaching a person to , fish rather than giving him a fish illustrates the basic concept of self-help; a distinction important in these postProposition 13 days, between services that perp,etuate a trapped class of dients ofpublic services and programs and educational processes that facilitate persons helping themselves. . A well-known kind of traditional self-help group is Alcoholics Anonymous, with some 40,000 chapters around the country, which operate on the premise of the benefits of mutual support in problem solving. • It has been estimated that self-help organizations (and in this is included food co-ops, service exchanges, and other models as presented in the New York Self-Help Handbook) are forming at the rate offive a day. It is interesting to watch traditional concepts of self-help such as AA merge with other, newer forms. I once worked with a Parents Anonymous group (child abusers) that grew in its concerns of mutual benefit from solving common problems to farming a food buying club, a skill exchange and a weekly potluck. \• ' National Self-Help Clearinghouse Graduate School and University Ct;nter City University of New York 33 West 4ind Street, Room 1227 New York, NY 10036 Are publishing a directory to self-help groups around the country. Natural Helping Networks, Diane L. Pancoast, Alice H. Collins, Nov. 1978, 190 pp., $5.00 from: National Association of Social Workers 1425 H Street N.W., Suite 600 Washington, DC 20005 Natural helping networks is a concept gaining some adherents in the human services sector, which utilizes the con- .cepts bei_ng developed by social net-· work analysts about the relations between individuals and collections of individuals in a community, and focuses attention on how to support the natural networks, and natural n.etworkers, in a. community. ' For example, in Santa Fe a human service agency provided information and some training to bartenders, barbers, grocery store owners etc., increasing their capacity to help individuals in locating resources in the community, or facilitating interaction with govern_ment processes.- Networks for Helping; Illustrations from Research and 'Pra'ctice, Regional Research Institute, Natural Helping Network Project Portland State University P.O.- Box-751 Portland, OR 97207 Proceedings from a conference, November 1-2, 1978, with papers on theory_ and practice. New York Self-Help Handbook, Karin· Carlson, Project Director, 1977, $5.70, ·from: Citizens Committee for New York City, Inc. 630 Fifth Ave. . New York,-NY 10020 Specifically a directory to resources in New York City, but generally a good overview of types of community selfhelp projects. • Other Models There are many examples of networks where there is a self-conscious (gad, another "self" W(!rd) .attempt to focus on the process of individual and collective network building and the principles of information sharing, and people to people and/or people to resource connections. "Networking in San Francisco," by Luba Zarskyand Village Design (in The November 1979 RAIN Page 21
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