Achieving Organizationality in Large-Scale Crises: A Comparative Case Study on the Communicative Constitution of Spontaneous Volunteer Collectives
通过分析德国五次大规模危机中自发志愿者集体的形成过程，研究空间、符号和支持如何促进合法性和集体认同，从而帮助志愿者更有效地协调行动。
Many large-scale crises require rapid responses from spontaneous volunteers (SVs). The more effective the way in which volunteers develop organizationality, the better they are able to coordinate individual activities, and the better they can cope with demands imposed by a disaster. However, we currently know too little about how SV collectives emerge and develop organizationality in the context of crises. We, therefore, explore organizationality’s emerging phases and determinants by grounding our study on the “communication constitutes organizations” research stream, that is, the four flows (4 F) model. In our qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews, as well as (social) media data from five large-scale crises in Germany, we identify the role of space, symbols, and support (3 S), and their effects as enablers of legitimacy and collective identity. By complementing the 4 F model, we contribute to “communication constitutes organizations” research and draw implications for managing loose SV collectives in practice.