Elastic Integration in Civic Do-ocracies: How Organizing Shapes Collective Civic Engagement in Informal, Non-Membership Based Networks

Civic engagement in welfare issues is increasingly partaken in informal, non-membership based formats. The paper explores this tendency through the study of collective civic action performed in ‘do-ocracies’, which are networks based on principles of decentralization and action. The do-ocracy is illustrated through the case of an online network producing free-of-charge protection equipment during COVID-19. From a processual-relational perspective, it is demonstrates, how the informal character of this organizing allows for ‘elastic integration’ of the network through simultaneous enactments of constraints and autonomy. Elastic integration is made up of coordinating elements, that are generated through the actors orienting towards each others’ absences. How this organizing shapes engagement in societal issues is discussed with regards to the networks’ aims to improve common life as well as it’s patterns of inclusion and member influence. The latter is addressed by the use of a set of accountability criteria, that reflect the logics of do-ocracy.