Collaborate Now! : How Expertise Becomes Useful in Civic Life

For those who seek change in civic life – grassroots activists, policymakers, researchers, nonprofit managers, community members – this book provides actionable guidance and a rich understanding of the collaboration needed to tackle civic challenges.

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.