6533b86dfe1ef96bd12c93a0

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Exploring Collective Action Dynamics in Online Communities from a Critical Realist Perspective

Tommaso FedericiAlessio Maria BracciniØYstein Sæbø

subject

Political sciencePolitical movementCritical realism (philosophy of the social sciences)Organizational structureSocial scienceAffordanceCollective actionMechanism (sociology)EpistemologyVariety (cybernetics)Knowledge sharing

description

Scholars have been increasingly studying Online Communities (OCs) for a variety of purposes, focusing on issues like individual motivation, knowledge sharing, and governance structure. Few studies focused on the entanglement among technology, people, and organizational structures that support working dynamics within OCs. This paper addresses this issue by exploring causal mechanisms sustaining the collective actions of OCs through a retroduction process. Based on the study of the OC of an Italian political movement, the Five Star Movement, the concept of affordance is involved to describe the generative mechanisms and new affordances are identified on collective action within OCs. Our work contributes to a deeper understanding of the OCs phenomenon, explaining how the different components (people, technology, and organization) interact within a specific mechanism to achieve a specific result.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2016-01-01
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38974-5_21