The path to anti-racism

2020 marked the year of Black Lives Matter protests all over the world. People marched for equal rights and demanded governments, companies, and individuals to change. After the protests in Rotterdam, the municipality acknowledged that it was time for change and launched the policy program Rotterdam against Racism. The initiative of the city provides a context conducive to study the governance of diversity. Societal issues have become more complex. Therefore, governance networks are increasingly used for policymaking, implementation, and service delivery. In governance networks that deal with wicked problems, actors may face substantive, strategic, and institutional complexity. This study examined how complexity influenced the anti-racism governance network in Rotterdam. Following Klijn and Koppenjan’s (2016) framework, the analysis of the anti-racism network in Rotterdam was grounded in network governance theory. The framework provided by Klijn and Koppenjan proved to be an important stepping stone for analyzing networks. This study employed a mixed-methods social network analysis. The anti-racism network consisted of 62 actors and reflected a collaboration among actors from the public, cultural sector, private sector, and communities. With quantitative methods, the anti-racism network was analyzed in terms of connections and centrality. In addition, interviews were conducted to discover whether complexity influenced the anti-racism governance network of Rotterdam. The quantitative network analysis showed that the cluster Gemeente Rotterdam RADAR, Art. 1, IDEM, and Dona Daria form the core of the anti-racism network. Gemeente Rotterdam and Radar are considered the most influential network actors. The influence of these organizations is extended to IDEM, Art 1, and Dona Daria. Based on the analysis of this cluster, the quality of ties rather than the quantity of ties seems to be a decisive aspect of an actor’s position within the anti-racism network. The qualitative results of this study showed that only strategic and institutional complexity influence the anti-racism network. Ownership or access to financial resources is decisive for the power that an actor holds in the network. Overall, complexity makes it more challenging for newer actors to exert influence on the governance of anti-racism in Rotterdam. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations are offered concerning enhancing resources of small or young organizations and increasing cohesion within the network. Finally, it is recommended that further research is conducted into the anti-racism network in Rotterdam using the same research design.