Inheriting Divisions? The Role of Catholic and Leftist Affiliation in Local Cooperation Networks: The Case of Italy and Poland

This chapter analyzes the role of civil society organizations' ideological affiliation in shaping information networks. We investigate whether the Catholic and Leftist affiliation of organizations in Turin and Kielce result in segregative patterns and power asymmetry in the network. Applying the measures of homophily and Simmelian ties we find that in both cities there is a tendency towards preferring similar partners. However, while Catholic and (post)Communist organizations are connected via third parties (non-affiliated) in Kielce, in Turin those actors are mostly connected only with the Catholic organizations. The Polish network is also characterized by high centrality of Catholic organizations, while in Turin there is a bi-polar situation. The findings suggest that ideological divisions need to be overcome in order to share insufficient organizational resources.