Unwavering Resilience: A Structuration Analysis of Local Liberians’ Organizing Efforts to Prevent the Spread of Ebola

• In Event: Top Four Papers in Organizational Communication

Abstract

In the backdrop of thousands of Ebola deaths in West Africa and fears of a potential worldwide epidemic, multiple actors mobilized against the further spread of the virus. This paper examines how local Liberians organized to combat Ebola. The paper presents a case study of an Ebola awareness campaign initiated by the Peace Network, Liberian citizens who organized initially with the goal of promoting peace in post-war Liberia. When Ebola hit Liberia, the Peace Network re-focused its efforts on the fight against Ebola. In our study of the campaign, we apply a structurational approach to understand the interplay between structure and agency in their organizing efforts. We relied on interviews with the campaign volunteers and their daily reports. Results reveal that structurational dynamics foreground organizing for social transformation through a mobilization process of what we call unwavering resilience.

Authors

• Stacey L. Connaughton, Purdue U

• Liliya Yakova, Purdue University

• Kai Kuang, Purdue U

• Jasmine Linabary, Purdue University

• Arunima Krishna, Purdue University

• Agaptus Anaele, Ohio