Why Won't You Listen to Me?The Role of Discursive Legitimacy during Episodes of Contention

Abstract

Why are some actors more listened to than others? In contrast to extant research in organization theory this paper focuses on discursive legitimation of actors rather than issues. It explores how actors from different subject positions engage in field level struggles to make their voice heard in an emerging and contested field: the public debates over shale gas exploration and exploitation in France. This article analyzes how actors claim and how the audience grants discursive legitimacy. It identifies six types of discursive (de)legitimacy claims and two types of judgment modes. This paper then proposes a process model that captures the dynamics of field level discursive legitimacy seeking and granting. With this it contributes to the discursive turn in institutional theory by conceptualizing how actors gain discursive legitimacy so as to participate in discourse over important issues or events.