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Open Balfour Dissertation Final 110817 The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Agricultural Sciences INCUBATING COMMUNITY: ARTS-BASED DEVELOPMENT, NETWORK STRUCTURE, AND THE EMBEDDING PROCESS A Dissertation in Rural Sociology by Bruce Balfour © 2017 Bruce Balfour Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2017 The dissertation of Bruce Balfour was reviewed and approved* by the following: Leif Jensen Distinguished Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography Chair of Committee Dissertation Adviser Theodore R. Alter Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics Co-Chair of Committee Dissertation Co-Adviser Leland Glenna Associate Professor of Rural Sociology and Science, Technology, and Society Kai Schafft Associate Professor of Education Robert M. Chiles Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology Kathryn Brasier Associate Professor of Rural Sociology Director of Graduate Studies Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education * Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT There is a need to better understand social embedding processes and network influences on community behaviors, particularly with regard to newer rural development strategies such as entrepreneurship and arts-based development. Through examination of the 16-month planning phase for a new arts business incubator used as a community and economic development platform, this case study draws on embeddedness theory and relational network/structural holes theory to analyze longitudinal change in community social structures. The quantification of network structure and embeddedness changes at both the whole network and dyadic levels of interaction—informed by qualitative analysis of context provided by key informant interviews, surveys, and community profiling—is intended to provide a well-rounded view of community impact and the embedding process resulting from the arts business incubator initiative. This work is intended to contribute to community embeddedness theory, social network theory, and practical evaluation of community change resulting from arts-based development. Frequency of interaction, duration of contact, and the strength of relational ties are often cited as important for building trust and maintaining relational embeddedness. However, these are not significant trust predictors in this study, where respondents place the most trust in experts who are reliable and demonstrate facilitator characteristics. Longitudinal co-development of the arts and music incubator subnetworks is examined using structural and relational embeddedness measures to compare embedding processes. An embedding process model is developed with complementary network tools used to optimize network change for increased embeddedness and improved information flow. These measures are also helpful for identifying resourceful actors who might otherwise remain hidden, as well as power brokers who may be restricting network development due to an overembeddedness condition. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................ XII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE .................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Structural and Relational Embeddedness ..................................................................................................... 2 Social Networks ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Arts-Based Development and Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities ....................................................... 6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 11 IMPORTANCE AND LIMITATIONS .................................................................................................................... 11 SUMMARY AND STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION ............................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................ 14 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 14 ARTS-BASED COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................... 15 Benefits of Arts-Based Development in Rural Communities ....................................................................... 16 Small Groups and Public Arts Venues ......................................................................................................... 19 Arts Initiatives and Rural Social Issues ....................................................................................................... 23 The Somewhat-Creative Class .................................................................................................................... 25 The Creative Context for Community Change ............................................................................................ 29 Gentrification and Commodification .......................................................................................................... 30 Incubation for Arts Businesses and Community Development ................................................................... 31 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 34 EMBEDDEDNESS ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Structural and Relational Embeddedness ................................................................................................... 37 Managing Embeddedness .......................................................................................................................... 39 SOCIAL CAPITAL .............................................................................................................................................. 40 Social Capital as Resource .......................................................................................................................... 41 Social Capital Relationships ........................................................................................................................ 42 Trust ........................................................................................................................................................... 42 Social Capital and Power ............................................................................................................................ 43 SOCIAL NETWORKS .............................................................................................................................................. 44 Network Density and Structural Holes ....................................................................................................... 46 Power in Networks ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Small Worlds ............................................................................................................................................... 52 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 63 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 63 CASE STUDIES ..................................................................................................................................................... 64 Case Selection ............................................................................................................................................. 66 PROCEDURES ...................................................................................................................................................... 66 iv Triangulation and Longitudinal Data Collection ......................................................................................... 67 Participant Selection and Recruiting .......................................................................................................... 68 Face-to-Face Interviews .............................................................................................................................. 69 Survey Instrument .................................................................................................................................................. 70 Interview Process ...................................................................................................................................................
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