The investigation of a novel gel-casting system using a water-soluble co-polymer of isobutylene and maleic anhydride (trade name ISOBAM) to elucidate its nontraditional gelling mechanism is described. This system enables ceramic slurries to gel at low binder concentrations (0.3-0.5 wt%), producing a dense, near-net shaped green body with high solids loading, low organic content, low shrinkage, and moderate strength. The nature of the stabilizing bonds formed during gelation were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential, and rheological measurements which revealed that no covalent network was formed during gelation. It was concluded that the mechanism was based solely on weak interactions. As such, the ISOBAM casting system, and polymeric additive systems that behave similarly, represent a new class of near net-shaped ceramic processing which could benefit a variety of applications, including ceramic additive manufacturing.