“Symposium on Mario Diani’s book: An introduction”

Mario Diani's book, the subject of this symposium, departs from the idea that rela-tions matters for civil society or. In other words, as the author points out in the intro-duction, "(t)ell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are"(p.1). He does this by studying civic networks in Bristol and Glasgow and focusing on 'the produc-tion of collective goods' (p.xviii) and on 'collective processes'(p.xvii). Diani broadens the point with one leading question forming the heart of the book: Why should we pay so much attention to networks, rather than to other aspects of civic collective action? To answer this question and delve into how relations and civil society participation in con-temporary Western liberal democracies are linked one another, the book illustrates three topics: local contexts of civil society networks as particularly interesting settings to study collective action dynamics; how structural patterns emerge from specific ex-changes; and finally, how relational patterns might shape (or be shaped by) organiza-tional characteristics, participation in events, leadership tendencies, and engagement in local politics, for example through public private partnerships. The role of networks in political activism at these different levels constitutes the focus of the reflections con-tained in the book.