Collaborate Now!
How Expertise Becomes Useful in Civic Life

In civic life, collaboration people would value often doesn't arise. Why not, and what can we do about it?

Adam Seth Levine (Author)

9781009411905, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 March 2024

230 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.49 kg

'In an environment that has become both increasingly siloed and interdependent, Adam Levine is a pioneer in finding new ways of bringing together researchers studying complex problems with those on the front lines of solving them. While it is increasingly apparent that the future depends on more effective collaboration, overcoming the significant barriers to creating meaningful collaborative relationships is its own complex problem - one that requires both scholarship and real-world experimentation to address. Levine brings fresh perspective rooted in research and experience to illuminate the path.' Elizabeth G. Christopherson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rita Allen Foundation

Those who seek change in civic life have much in common: they each bring valuable expertise to the table and need to strategize with others about what to do. That's why new collaborative relationships between diverse thinkers are essential. Yet they're difficult to form. Collaborate Now! presents a new argument about why that is, along with tools to foster them anew. As with any form of voluntary civic engagement, these relationships require time and motivation. Yet on top of that, collaborators often start off as strangers, and are uncertain about relationality: whether they'll relate to each other in ways that are meaningful and brimming with interaction. Using case studies, field experiments, interviews, and observational data, this book provides a rich understanding of the collaborative relationships needed to tackle civic challenges, how uncertainty about relationality can produce an unmet desire for them, and actionable tools to surface and meet this desire.

1. Expertise and Collaborative Relationships in Civic Life
2. A Theory of Relationality
3. Relationality in Practice
4. The Link Between Relationality and Collaborative Relationships
5. Surfacing and Meeting Unmet Desire for New Collaborative Relationships
6. Moving Forward: How To 'Collaborate Now!'
Appendix A: Qualitative Interviews Protocol
Appendix B: More Details on Local Policymaker Survey
Appendix C: Step-by-step Guide for Conducting One Type of Formal Collaboration: A New Research Partnership
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Social research & statistics [JHBC]