NOTE: THE MATERIAL CONTAINED ON THIS SITE IS ALL A WORK IN PROGRESS AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Mapping Nodes Along Trajectories
Our pilot phase case studies explore the trajectories that connect communities based in participatory culture to civic action in ways that allow us to identify a set of nodes, or crucial contexts, instances, situations and structures that facilitate transition and change. These, in turn, allow us to trace how communities move in and out of these nodes on these non-linear and complex trajectories between cultural participation and political action. Finally, mapping these nodes on these trajectories against observed community practices enables us to tease out the different strategies and common patterns, with a look towards a more complex, and deployable, learnings. Though still preliminary, our pilot study analysis indicate the following eight key trajectory nodes:
- Shared Content Worlds
- Affinity Groups, Expressions, Shared Pleasures and Desires
- Sense of Community
- Catalyst
- Action
- Expansion of scope
- Sustainable Structures for Continued Growth
- Impact
Through our case studies, these nodes emerge as key instances in the mapping of trajectories from participatory culture to civic engagement. Though indicative of the general conditions that facilitate movement along these trajectories, these nodes clearly apply to individual case studies in different ways and with differing levels of importance. As the project continues to evolve, we may find that we need to add, amend or even delete certain nodes. This initial work, however, begins to set up a framework for discussing, analyzing, approaching and assessing the contexts and processes that facilitate movement along the trajectories to political action.