The Use of Network Metrics in Building Intelligence Early Warning Systems. The Structural Conduciveness Index.

Specific collective behavior forms (for example, mass protests) emerge only if certain conditions are met simultaneously: good structural conduciveness of the group, a pre-existing structural strain, a formed generalized belief, the appearance of precipitating factors, a grass-roots or top-down mobilization for the action and the already-formed perception that the social control instruments are no longer in the authorities' hands. Mass protests seem to follow this 'perfect-storm' recipe, from Tunis' violent protests that kick-started the 'Arab Spring' to the late 2011 riots in London. This paper presents and discusses how structural conduciveness could be measured using network metrics such as k-cores, clustering, cliqueness, reciprocity, cohesion, homophily, structural holes, triad closure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]