Cooptation or Cooperation: The Role of Transnational Advocacy Organizations in the Zapatista Movement

Abstract

Transnational advocacy networks (TANs) have burgeoned in recent years. Despite their rapid growth and increasing importance, several critical questions remain about relations within TANs. Two perspectives that have emerged have varying understandings about how information, ideas, and norms flow within these networks. The perspectives emphasize both relations and diffusion characterized by either cooptation or cooperation. Hypotheses emerging from these frameworks have not been extensively tested with empirical analyses. This study utilizes a combination of network and regression analyses to examine characteristics contributing to organizational prominence within the Zapatista transnational advocacy network. The analysis finds that locally based, single-issue organizations, as well as English speaking and Western organizations, tend to have increased prominence. I assess the implications of these findings through the lens of advocacy networks as information providers.