Social capital and community organizing in community-based COVID-19 management in two resettlement sites in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

The study yields insights on the community-based actions for pandemic management in two urban resettlement sites in the Philippines. Studies that interrogate the origins of community-based actions in government-built resettlement sites during the pandemic have been scant. We investigated in two communities how social capital, community organizing, and collective action intersected in wielding the community leaders' combined agency in building their own COVID-19 management system. The data were collected through phone interviews with community leaders and residents during the lockdown period. In a context of low local government support, the communities proved their ability to build their pandemic management system. Nonetheless, one community was much quicker in setting up the crisis management system and was even able to adjust it to the shifting quarantine policies and corresponding needs of the residents. The notable differences between the two communities can be attributed to their different community organizing experience and different stocks of social capital. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reseverd.