Symbolic Legitimacy Research Articles

China’s Bilateral Investment Treaties with the Global South: Protecting Nature or Building Symbolic Legitimacy?

China’s Bilateral Investment Treaties with the Global South: Protecting Nature or Building Symbolic Legitimacy?

Restoring the Kingdom of Christ: the appropriation of religious and cultural festivals and the construction of the nation under Franco (1936–45)

ABSTRACT In the analysis of the consolidation of the dictatorships that emerged in interwar Europe, religious and cultural festivals have received less attention than the political holidays created from scratch to reinforce their symbolic legitimacy. However, popular celebrations served as an effective tool for the transmission of ideology and the creation of spaces of interaction between the state and the people. This article analyses the different ways in which the Franco dictatorship instrumentalized religiosity and religious and cultural festivals during the years that the regime was under construction (1936–45). The study evaluates the extent to which the appropriation and resignification of popular culture and festive rites helped to consolidate the dictatorship and shape the Franco nation, while examining their impact on daily life and highlighting the subjects’ capacity for agency in the redefinition of celebrations. Drawing on a perspective that combines social and cultural history and anthropology, the article focuses on the complex relationship between religion and nationalism during the Franco period, observing the materialization of specific policies and discourses in people’s lives.

Strategies of Social Reproduction: Medical Students from Germany in Central and Eastern Europe from a Centre–Periphery Perspective

Higher education degrees from European Union countries are automatically recognised in other Member States. However, legal recognition does not necessarily translate into symbolic recognition in the profession. This dynamic can be observed in the field of medicine in Germany, where German graduates often face symbolic devaluation when they graduate in certain other countries and return to work in Germany. At the same time, the group of foreign medical students is socially exclusive, and admission to a medical programme in Germany is difficult and unsuccessful for many applicants. Based on the theory of symbolic power and capital and a centre–periphery perspective, this paper reconstructs the means and ways by which privileged students from the centre, Germany, seek social reproduction by studying medicine abroad in the semi-periphery, Hungary, Latvia and Romania. The results show that moving to the semi-periphery is only chosen when other alternatives in the centre are not feasible. Certain symbolic disadvantages of studying abroad were identified, and countermeasures were developed to ensure symbolic legitimacy upon return. The results also show that the semi-periphery is not homogeneous in its symbolic ambivalence from a centre–periphery perspective.

Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial

Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial

Corporate Social Responsibility, Benefits beyond Legitimacy: A Symbiotic Framework

The 21st-century social and political environment has continued to evolve and heightens the demand for organisations to provide accountability for the sustainability operations of their businesses. Accordingly, organisations are committing to diverse strategic efforts to provide disclosures on their social and environmental actions to the society and environment where they operate. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has received support and criticism since its emergence in the corporate realm. This paper aims to portray CSR as beyond mere symbolic legitimacy and propose a corporate-society symbiotic existential framework. The research approach is a critical literature analysis and conceptual framework development. The results show that the corporate and the society co-exist in a reciprocal relationship. Thus, the implication is that some CSR may be more than symbolic legitimacy with potential benefits derivable from committed transparent and pragmatic CSR, which can encourage companies to shift away from symbolic CSR tendencies. The paper recommends the need for organisations to operationalise CSR practices and policy as this has a propensity to enhance corporate legitimate standing, which will assist in reducing business risks and enhance the potential for profit in the long run. In addition, this discourse may be helpful for business schools in their academic studies about CSR and legitimacy theory and would also assist in CSR regulatory initiatives. The value of the paper hinges on the proposed novel framework for corporate-society symbiotic existence, which provides an agenda for future research study and expansion therein. This framework may lead to multiples of modelling in future CSR and corporate governance studies and may also assist in narrowing the gap between legal and normative CSR.

К проблеме использования символической власти научно-экспертного знания

This article explores the use of symbolic pow-er and the legitimacy of scientific and expert knowledge by various socio-political and eco-nomic groups. The author considers this prob-lem in a broader context of postnormal sci-ence, the rationality of which proceeds from the need to select the urgent problems of science and ways to solve them, considering the expectations and fears of the consumers of scientific results outside the scientific community. The first part of the article focus-es on how various agents, competing with each other for public attention and power over opinions, strategically apply scientific knowledge as a social currency that builds trust. In this, they rely on the symbolic legit-imacy of science to make their claims more convincing. The second part of the article considers mediatization of science and studies the question of how a scientific problem gains, maintains or loses media attention. In this, the author proceeds from the theory of setting the information/media/public agenda and the theory of framing. As examples, she suggests a description and evaluation of two cases including coverage of the topics of stem cells and epigenetics in the media. The author points out that mass media actively discussed both topics employing effective communica-tion techniques in that process, such as “sto-rytelling”, vivid images from history and cul-ture, emotionally rich style, while the broad-cast frames had a clear manipulative poten-tial. In conclusion, it is noted that the issues of information agenda setting in science and technology, as well as the financial, political and ideological independence of groups using scientific and expert knowledge as a social currency, remain open. The involvement of science in ethical, social and economic issues can further commercialize and politicize sci-ence and contribute to a further use of its symbolic power and epistemic status in the interests of various non-scientific groups.

Are small and medium enterprises defining their business models to reach a symbolic or substantive environmental legitimacy?

Involvement of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is critical to the decarbonization of economies; however, legitimacy theory, climate change strategies, and the business model (BM) literature have not addressed this issue in depth. This research analyses whether SMEs define their environmental BMs to achieve substantive legitimacy by reducing their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. We analyze the relationships among environmental value proposition, creation, and capture using partial least-squares structural equation modeling with the data for 695 SMEs. The results show that SMEs’ environmental value proposition takes into account symbolic and substantive environmental legitimacy. This broad definition of the value proposition drives SMEs to undertake environmental value creation initiatives, but these initiatives are not very effective in reducing CO2 emissions. These results indicate that SMEs seek symbolic legitimacy more than substantive legitimacy, which has important implications for managers and policymakers who want SMEs to contribute to the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Professional scaling work: How professional segments claim new jurisdictions in a world of trans-local connections

The literature on professions, drawing on both sociological and management approaches, has recently turned its focus to the transnational scale. In this article, building on Andrew Abbott’s work on professional jurisdictions, we analyze the way transnational resources come to play a role in local professional claims-making and work practices in the inter-professional struggle over jurisdiction. Comparing case studies set in Denmark into three emerging professional jurisdictions, our analysis shows that professional segments claiming new work tasks engage actively in scaling work that attempts to ‘rescale’ the jurisdiction to fit their own professional projects and claims. We find that scaling practices consist of three different ways professionals invest in transnational resources: organizational avatars, new work regulations and prescriptions, and symbolic legitimacy. These ways in which professionals transform transnational resources into claims used in local professionals situations result in different outcomes for the professional segments involved.

Including the "Nation's Enemies": The Long Politics of Recognition and Restitution during the Third Greek Republic (1974–2006)

In 1974, democracy was restored in Greece and the state had to shift the boundaries of social and political exclusion. Nevertheless, the first right-wing governments did not accept the Left's symbolic legitimacy and integration into the nation. They refused to recognize the left-wing Resistance, while the Left opposition tried to establish the National Resistance as a central landmark in national history. PASOK's rise to power in 1981 altered the state's policy on the past. They incorporated EAM's legacy into national history, creating a new foundational myth with new silences and new voices. ND began to adopt a more inclusive stance, but when they came to power in 1990 they overhauled the process that had recognized the left-wing Resistance. PASOK's return to power in 1993 did not manage to resolve the many pending issues. Coming to terms with the Greek past was not a straightforward, linear process but rather a long, tangled, and arduous one, the end of which is not yet clear.

Examining the Mediating Roles of Green Image and Readiness in Firms’ Green Information Technology Practices: An Organizational Legitimation Perspective

ABSTRACT This study proposes a dual-path view to explain firms’ green information technology (GIT) practices from the organizational legitimation lens. It explicates essential influence pathways that shape firms’ responses to essential external pressures for environmental sustainability, including the general public’s awareness of environmental protection, industry norms, and competitors’ green practices. This study emphasizes the mediating roles of a firm’s pursuit of a green image and its readiness for green practices, which represent symbolic and substantive legitimacy actions, respectively. Survey data from 152 leading manufacturers and 152 service firms in Taiwan are used to test the hypotheses empirically. The results show that the general public’s environmental awareness, industry norms, and competitors’ green practices influence firms’ GIT practices through their pursuit of a green image and green readiness. A comparative analysis further indicates that green readiness mediates the effects of external pressures for service firms but not for manufacturers, whereas the pursuit of a green image mediates the impacts of external pressures for manufacturing firms but not for service firms.

Fear and Loathing or Strategic Priming? Unveiling the Audience in Duterte's Crime Rhetoric

AbstractThis paper examines speechmaking on a contentious policy by arguably one of the most controversial figures to have assumed the Philippine presidency. Drawing on quantitative textual approaches on a corpus of 845 presidential speeches delivered between June 2016 and July 2020, we provide evidence that Rodrigo Duterte's evocative utterances against drug lords and criminals are not just deliberate illocutionary acts intended to court public support, but also priming tactics aimed towards a politically and economically significant audience whose acquiescence gives symbolic legitimacy to a controversial anti-crime policy. Using quantitative textual approaches and econometric analysis, we find that violent-crime rhetoric is more likely to accompany public pronouncements made before a political audience consisting of law enforcement authorities and government officials, as well as an economic audience made up of business chambers, overseas Filipino workers, and labor groups. Overall, the findings nuance an image of Duterte beyond that of a penal populist.

Иранская монархическая эмиграция как критик политического режима Исламской Республики Иран

Introduction. The author analyzes the features of the ideological confrontation and conflict between Iranian emigrant communities and the political elites of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The position of Iranian emigration is analyzed in the context of the activity of the Pahlavi dynasty representatives. The purpose of the article is to analyze the ideo- logical confrontation between the two projects of Iranian political identities in contexts of criticism of the clerical regime of Iran by representatives of the Iranian political emigration of Pahlavi dynasty. Methods. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of analyzing intellectual communities with the elements of the universal method of his- toricism and a comparative approach, which make it possible to identify and systematize the main features of the process of ideological confrontation between the Iranian elites and their critics from the Iranian political monarchist emigration. Scientific novelty of the study. On the one hand, the article analyzes the ideological confrontation between the clerical political regime of Iran and its critics from the communities of monarchical emi- gration as a state of remote or delayed conflict. On the other hand, the author analyzes this ideological controversy as a conflict not between society and power, but between two versions of political power: if the Iranian regime controls the political discourse in the country in fact, then its monarchist oppo- nents in exile attribute to it symbolic legitimacy and continuity with the tradition of Iranian statehood. Results. The main directions and features of criticism of the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Iranian political emigrants of a monarchist orientation are analyzed; features of political ideol- ogy are shown; the forecast of the development of the political activity of the Iranian emigration is presented. Conclusions. The author believes that 1) the mo- narchical Iranian emigration is one of the centers of attraction for emigrants from Iran in Western Europe and North America; 2) the ideologists and theorists of the monarchical emigration are consist- ent critics of the political regime established in Iran in 1979; 3) criticism of the clerical, anti-secular and undemocratic regime of Tehran, its accusations of violating human rights and freedoms in in the cen- tre of the political doctrine of the Iranian emigra- tion; 4) the political ideal of emigration is a secular and democratic Iran, where rights and freedoms are respected, and religious minorities have equal rights with the Shiite Iranian majority.

Rewarding Members of the Resistance Movement in Belgium in the Context of Public Diplomacy of the USSR during the Cold War

The article deals with the problem of implementing the Soviet policy of “soft power” in the conditions of the Cold War on the example of awarding Belgian participants in the anti-fascist Resistance by the Soviet government combat awards. On the basis of official documents identified in the RGANI, GARF and RGALI, it is shown what role the Soviet “award diplomacy” played in the construction of a collective memory of the Second World War in Belgium and the joint participation of Belgian and Soviet citizens in the Resistance. The initiators of the awards for Belgian citizens formally and informally were such quasi-public organizations as the Soviet Committee of War Veterans, the Union of Writers of the USSR, the Soviet Committee for Cultural Relations with Compatriots Abroad (Rodina society). At the same time, the candidates were coordinated with the national communist parties, which could also initiate the award. The final decision-making took place at the level of the Central Committee of the CPSU, in agreement with the Soviet embassy. During the Cold War period, 4 actions of rewarding the Belgians took place, as a result of which 23 members of the anti-fascist Resistance received Soviet military awards. Among them was the national Belgian heroine — the Russian emigrant M. Shafrova-Marutaeva. As a result of the analysis of award campaigns, the author comes to the conclusion that, being part of a complex of memorial events, they served as an effective tool for broadcasting the official Soviet policy of remembrance of the war to the West. The representation of the image of the winner in these actions emphasized the symbolic legitimacy, political authority and even moral superiority of the Soviet Union in the international arena.

The disclosure of the materiality process in sustainability reporting by Spanish state-owned enterprises

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the disclosure of the materiality process in the preparation of sustainability reports of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper also explores the effects of regulation mandating that SOEs prepare sustainability reports. In the specific case of port authorities, the study analyses the influence of a sector guideline that determines what should be included and the structure of the report. Another aim of this paper is to delve into SOE's motivations for disclosing information on materiality assessments, using the assumptions of the different theories to explain their reporting practices.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of SOEs sustainability reports, a content analysis is undertaken. The methodology involves the analysis of the information disclosed by SOEs in Spain and the development of a materiality disclosure index. This index enables sampled entities to be classified on a scale of 0–5, based on the extent of their disclosures of the materiality determination process. This study also identifies several variables that explain differences in these disclosures.FindingsA low rate of information disclosed about the materiality process can be attributed to the desire of SOEs to create symbolic legitimacy. In a context where the disclosure of sustainability information is mandatory, only few organisations apply the principle of materiality to define the content of their sustainability reports. These results highlight that institutional isomorphism has only had a limited effect on the materiality process.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations associated with the sample size and composition of the sample by sector apply.Practical implicationsThis research shows that generally accepted reporting guidelines constitute a reference framework for sustainability reporting but that the principles underpinning these frameworks are not always implemented.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature on the implementation of the principle of materiality and uses disclosure theories to explain the actual reporting by SOEs of their materiality process.

Buddhist Kingship and Symbolic Architecture in Silla Korea

The evolution of kingship in the early Korean state of Silla (ca. 300–935) was closely linked with the accommodation of various Buddhist practices that conferred symbolic legitimacy and promoted royal authority. During the sixth and seventh centuries, Silla’s sovereigns assimilated several overlapping approaches to statecraft and kingship drawing on Sinitic and imagined Indian models mediated through such Buddhist literature as the Sūtra for Humane Kings and the Sūtra of Golden Light, resonant with policies followed in the Northern and Southern Dynasties in China. Buddhist monarchs in Silla adopted several overlapping and increasingly sophisticated approaches to symbolically consolidate and project political authority. Silla merged native East Asian cosmological symbolism with Buddhist architecture to establish royal legitimacy. Hwangnyong Monastery combines Sinitic symbolism with Buddhist-inspired propaganda, which both assert Silla’s regional dominion. The significance of the yellow dragon was astrological, signifying Silla’s ascendancy among the Korean states. Hwangnyong Monastery was the locus for state-protection rituals centered on the Sūtra for Humane Kings beginning in the sixth century, but early monasteries built with a single golden hall and two pagodas may have some connection to the Sūtra of Golden Light. Sach’ŏnwang Monastery was the most important twin pagoda monastery in seventh-century Silla, with Yŏngmyo Monastery and Kamŭn Monastery also performing a magico-religious function as loci for ritual centered on divine protection by the four heavenly kings, the eight classes of divine beings, spirit generals, and wholesome deities from the unseen world.

External borders and internal freedoms: how the refugee crisis shaped the bordering preferences of European citizens

ABSTRACT The idea that internal inclusion requires external exclusion features prominently in many theoretical accounts of modern statehood and citizenship. In a similar vein, it has been argued that internal freedom of movement in the European Union requires strict immigration control at its external borders. This article sheds light on the relationship between internal de-bordering and external re-bordering, making two main contributions. First, we theorise the idea of an integration-demarcation conditionality based on the European Union's symbolic legitimacy and functional needs. Second, we test the common belief that public support for free movement within Europe depends on a restrictive border regime for non-European immigration. For this purpose, we assess how the external shock of the 2015 refugee crisis shaped the bordering preferences of European citizens. We find that the crisis primarily increased citizens’ support for external re-bordering, and did not substantially undermine their support for internal free movement. Thus, the large-scale arrival of refugees has not led to a general backlash against open borders and immigration but has, rather, increased public support for the European model of combining internal freedoms with external controls.

Freedom of Expression Challenged: Scientists’ Perspectives on Hidden Forms of Suppression and Self-censorship

The media have become an important arena where struggles over the symbolic legitimacy of expert authority take place and where scientific experts increasingly have to compete for public recognition. The rise of authoritarian and populist leaders in many countries and the growing importance of social media have fueled criticism against scientific institutions and individual researchers. This paper discusses the new hidden forms of suppression and self-censorship regarding scientists’ roles as public experts. It is based on two web surveys conducted among Finnish researchers in 2015 and 2017. We focus on answers to the open-ended questions in these surveys, where respondents reflect upon issues of freedom of expression and the feedback they receive in public arenas. Building on previous research on suppression, “research silencing,” and the “chilling effect,” we discuss the connection between freedom of expression and freedom of inquiry. We make a distinction between four forms of suppression: political and economic control, organizational control, control between rival academics, and control from publics. Moreover, we make explicit and discuss the means, motives, and practices of suppression within each of these four forms.

Memes, sátiras y tropos en Cuba

En Cuba, la división entre esferas pública y privada de la sociedad, el monopolio de los medios de comunicación,así como el llamado a la soberanía nacional, mantienen una atmósfera cívica donde las personas han sabidono emitir juicios de exposición más radicales de lo necesario. En este ecosistema, discursos de diverso gradodiscordante impregnan la vida cotidiana, por lo que un entorno de interacción es básico para la autoafirmacióny posterior creación de actos de contención, de discursos divergentes, y de resistencia pacífica. En estesentido, expresiones culturales digitales, acorde al repertorio modular contemporáneo de memes, etiquetasy posts, pueden considerarse vehículos infrapolíticos utilizados por una sociedad subordinada, para resistirlas distorsiones autoritarias en los flujos de comunicación. Las tendencias digitales han sabido aprovechar lapérdida de legitimidad simbólica para cuestionar dinámicas de poder desde un lenguaje satírico, tanto comode elementos codificados y de significación costumbrista. El presente ensayo analiza desde la lingüística, lasociología y la etnosemántica expresiones en medios digitales como memes, etiquetas y posts, así como surelación/función entre la cultura popular, la ciudadanía y las políticas estatales.

Symbolic Legitimacy of Social Ordering and Conflict Settlement Practices: The Role of Collective Identities in Local Politics of Tajikistan

ABSTRACT Collective identities like Islamic, kinship and geographical affiliations commit people to norms and practices of social ordering and influence their everyday practices. This article discusses how collective identities commit people in southern Tajikistan to patriarchal and authoritarian ordering and conflict settlement in view of unequal and contested distribution of power. A commitment to such illiberal norms and practices legitimises an exploitation of marginalised people. It discredits and prevents their discontent, court deals or open resistance. Furthermore, patriarchal and authoritarian conflict management ostracises rivals and/or suppresses those who criticise a hierarchical distribution of resources, co-optation deals, and patron-client exchanges.

태종대 慶源府 移設･德安陵 遷葬의 의미와 東北面 변화

This study focused on the relocation of the royal tombs of Taejong(太宗)’s ancestor(德陵, 安陵) and Gyeongwonbu(慶源府) during the reign of king Taejong. former studies did not explain relocationing the royal-tombs and a strategic base on the North-eastern region. As Taejong had less influence in North-eastern than Taejo(太祖), Taejong had to focus on defense of the North-eastern region unlike Taejo. It is related to internal and external conditions. Taejong after he ascended the throne suffered conflicts with Ming(明) with the control of Nuzhen(女眞) externally. And the suppression of a rebellion in the North-eastern region internally. Through relocated Gyeongwonbu, Taejong tried resolve two problems. Then Taejong took symbolic legitimacy and an efficient a strategic military base in the North-eastern region. As a result, roles of Gyeongwonbu was divided with military role to the Gyeongseong(鏡城) and political role to the Hamju. Hamju was promoted by relocation of the royal-tombs. After then, the North-eastern region was renamed as Hamgil-do(咸吉道). The classification of this administrative district was made possible through the recognition of Taejong’s The north-eastern region and the foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty.