Concept Essay Two: Leveraging Informal Networks for Survival Politics

Informal networks play a crucial role in survival politics. They are the most important resource for people in survival situations such as natural disasters and grassroots environmental struggles. In this concept essay, Uchralt Otede outlines three key types of informal networks: first, personal networks, made up of relatives, friends, and people from the neighbourhood; second, informal issue-specific networks such as emergency flood-relief networks or citizen radioactivity measuring stations; and third, Internet-based information exchange networks, such as a data collection system for flooding or for local river protection. The differences between informal networks, NGOs, and other social organizations are discussed from the perspective of survival politics, and the essay concludes with an introduction to the two case study chapters which follow.