The spatiality of collective action: Flexible networks and symbolic performances among the Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina

This study examines the relations between geography and social movements. It approaches this subject from a critical human geography perspective that takes spatiality—the mutual constitution of space and society—as the theoretical starting point and analytical guiding concept. It blends the contemporary academic literatures on social movements and spatiality with theories of social networks and of social relations as performances. Through a theoretical synthesis, it provides a framework that demonstrates that the duration and mobilization outcomes of collective action are related to different dimensions of the spatiality of social relations. The study is grounded empirically through a historical and comparative analysis of the Madres de Plaza Mayo, a network of human rights activists in Argentina that has remained active for a quarter of a century.; The study demonstrates that the Madres sustain cohesion in a territorially widespread community of activists through the practice of collective performances in plazas across Argentina. The collective performances give the Madres' visibility, facilitate recruitment, and cement emotional bonds among members, enhancing social proximity despite physical distance. Collective performances enacted at different spatial scales—through activists' bodies and through the modification of the built environment—are also a mechanism for the resolution of internal group conflicts.; The outcomes of the Madres' mobilization strategies are related to the geographic flexibility of their networks. The Madres have constructed networks with strategic bridges that operate at a variety of spatial scales and that allow them to tap other networks for resources critical for their mobilization strategies. Furthermore, the Madres use symbolic framings of the plazas as a tool to build network connections with other groups. The Madres' coalition-building strategies rely on connections that are geographically flexible. Both their inter-personal and inter-organizational networks exhibit a dynamic spatiality that encompasses different types of relations moving across personal, local, national, and international scales.; Overall, this study demonstrates that how social movements sustain cohesion is dependent on their embeddedness in both material and symbolic places and that the outcomes of strategies of mobilization often hinges upon actors' strategic capacity to maneuver different types of relations through networks in place and across scales.