SaveDisney.com and Activist Challenges: A Habermasian Perspective on Corporate Legitimacy

Authors

Sarah Bonewits Feldner, Marquette UniversityFollow
Rebecca J. Meisenbach, University of Missouri - Columbia

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

20 p.

Publication Date

10-2007

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Source Publication

International Journal of Strategic Communication

Source ISSN

1553-118X

Original Item ID

doi: 10.1080/15531180701623569

Abstract

This study develops a Habermasian framework for evaluating and generating challenges to organizational legitimacy. The launch of the SaveDisney.com web site represents an innovative example of an Internet-based activist public successfully challenging a corporation’s legitimacy and advocating for changes in corporate governance. Legitimacy research has focused on strategies used by organizations to build legitimacy (e.g., Dowling & Pfeffer, 1975; Metzler, 2001), but scholars rarely address how publics challenge legitimacy claims. Using Habermas’ conceptualization of communicative action and legitimacy to explore the SaveDisney.com case offers insight into ways that activist publics successfully challenge and reject the legitimacy claims of powerful corporations.

Comments

Originally published in International Journal of Strategic Communication, Vol. 1, No. 4 (October 2007), DOI. © 2007 Taylor & Francis (Routledge). Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

Feldner, Sarah Bonewits and Meisenbach, Rebecca J., "SaveDisney.com and Activist Challenges: A Habermasian Perspective on Corporate Legitimacy" (2007). College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications. 18.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/18