Social capital and grassroots organisational change: a comparative case study from post-Morakot Taiwan

Grassroots organisations (GOs) often emerge spontaneously in disaster contexts to fill gaps left by formal authorities, changing their structures and functions to meet evolving community needs. While prior research documents these transformations, it offers limited insight into why they occur and what they mean for disaster recovery. Social capital (SC) is critical for collective action, but its role in shaping grassroots organisational change remains underexplored. This study, examining community-based GOs in Taiwan following Typhoon Morakot in 2009, investigates how SC influences organisational change. Using a comparative case study design, it finds that bonding SC within communities was most closely associated with whether change was sustained. Alignment between the initiatives of GOs and community priorities mediated bonding SC, sustaining trust, reciprocity, and legitimacy. Bridging and linking SC supported access to resources and external legitimacy, but they were not sufficient on their own when local support weakened. Theoretically, the study clarifies how SC subtypes interact with organisational change and helps interpret what such changes signify. Practically, it underscores the importance of responsive community engagement while strategically leveraging bridging and linking SC in post-disaster recovery.