II. Undertanding Local Networks

Our personal relations have structures.The systems of relations inside which every individual is inserted which include family, companions,colleagues and technology enhances the varied networks regardless of our location.

"Birds of the same feather flock together"  

Our relationships are networked. They might have said this in references to the way others would judge us according to our friends or people who we interact everyday.They are the type of people who surround and share ourselves so it means we have similarities with our values and tradition so we have a networked with them. 

"Networks are everywhere"

"Institutions and organizations significantly see the importance of radical connectedness with their networks, partners, and alliances to compete and create value".  

Do you know what is the meaning of network? A Network is a group of people whom we interact daily and it happens each time we take an interest in a school, get together, visit from our religious gathering, chat with our neighbors and interface with companions on the web.

Networks are a 'set of nodes and the set of ties' (Brass, 1999:42) The things that are connected are usually called nodes. A node might be a person, computer or even a hyperlinked text. The connection between hubs are called associations and here and there are called edges. They are relations that bind the tie or even make the ties suffer.

Networks are analyzed in terms of: (Kilduff and tsal, 2003, pp.30ff) 

• Density
• Hierarchy
• Multiplexity
• Interdependence
• Embeddedness

Doing Social Analysis Through Network Mapping

Analyzing networks in an organization or a community exposes us to the myriads of power relations, connections, issues, and its problems. Making critical analysis of these networks of relationships enables us to obtain a more complete picture of a social situation or phenomena. It provides a basis for solidarity with our brothers and sisters since we, as a human family, are networked and interdenpendent. Our love for our neighbor creates global dimensions in our interconnected world.

   1. Recall a recent service-learning activity where you had the opportunity to visit a partner community of the school. 

   2. Draw a color coded map of networks of power relations (political, economic, cultural and kinship ties) within the community where they have their exposure using Buzan's iMindmap.

   3.  The central topic of the mind map is network. The main themes come next, radiating from the central topic. The second level topics will form the branches of the mind map. These branches form a connected nodal structure. Refer to the components of networks (density, hierarchy, multiplexity, interdependence and embeddedness).