 (Re)presenting ‘sustainable organizations’Helen Tregidga, Markus Milne and Kate Kearins Accounting, Organizations and Society, 2014, vol. 39, issue 6, 477-494 Abstract: This paper investigates how organizations represent themselves in relation to sustainable development in 365 publicly available corporate reports from 1992 to 2010. This period of reporting captures the emergence and development of corporate reporting on sustainable development within the context of the study, New Zealand. Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory is employed to frame the analysis and interpret the findings. In particular Laclau and Mouffe’s conceptualizations of discourse, identity and group formation, and their theorization of hegemony are drawn upon. The analysis uncovers a changing organizational identity over time. Three distinct identities which capture key organizational representations over time are highlighted: environmentally responsible and compliant organizations; leaders in sustainability; and strategically ‘good’ organizations. The paper demonstrates through an analysis of these evolving identities and their effects, how organizations have maintained a ‘right to speak’ within the sustainable development debate, despite the fundamental challenges and hegemonic threat that a broader reading of sustainable development might imply. Date: 2014 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:39:y:2014:i:6:p:477-494 DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2013.10.006 Access Statistics for this article Accounting, Organizations and Society is currently edited by Christopher Chapman More articles in Accounting, Organizations and Society from Elsevier |
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