Digital emergent organizing and coordination of large-scale collaborative action in times of war

Beyond accelerated use of and dependence on digital technologies in response to grand societal challenges and recent global crises—such as pandemics, climate disasters, and geopolitical conflicts—our understanding of digital emergent organizing and coordination approaches to large-scale collaborative action remains limited. This study examines the unique empirical case of the temporary emergent online group #FinlandforUkraine, which, over the course of 69 days in 2022, organized and coordinated the digital crisis response in Finland to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. By leveraging Telegram chats, the group helped Ukrainians to flee from the war to Finland. The success of digitally enabled crisis response was determined by the speed of providing solutions to emerging refugee needs, presenting an empirical puzzle that could not be explained by existing literature and deserved theoretical and practical attention. Specifically, through digital emergent organizing and coordination, the group was able to develop scalable solutions for refugee transportation and accommodation needs within a limited time frame. Our research contributes to the literature on organizing and coordination in crisis by discussing practices of digital emergent organizing and strategies of digital emergent coordination for large-scale collaboration. We further highlight methodological perspectives on how researchers can engage in national crisis response missions and leverage online data to study dynamic processes in extreme contexts. In addition to advancing theory, our research informs policy and practice by outlining implications for preparedness and response to future crises. • engaged scholarship through action research • digital ethnography and process research in extreme context • large-scale collaborative action in emergent online groups • practices of digital emergent organizing; strategies of digital emergent coordination