ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that analyses of the institutions which frame governance and social change will be deficient if they neglect informal networks and relationships. We propose that many studies in the area of governance are deficient in failing adequately to deal with informal cooperation, learning, and negotiation – social institutions that are major components of networks and relationships (High et al. 2004a; Pelling and High 2005). We are interested in the observation that while terms such as governance, participation, social capital and networks appear to indicate a deep interest in the potential of informal ‘shadow’ networks (after Shaw 1996) to enhance governance, in practice there is a tendency to focus on formal ‘canonical’ organizational forms (see Brown and Duguid 1991). This is reflected in much of the institutional and organizational literature, where informal institutions are viewed as a problem to be mitigated, rather than a resource to be harnessed.
