TY - JOUR
T1 - Technology legitimation in the public discourse
T2 - applying the pillars of legitimacy on GM food
AU - Jansma, Sikke R.
AU - Gosselt, Jordy F.
AU - Kuipers, Kimberly
AU - de Jong, Menno D.T.
N1 - Taylor & Francis deal
PY - 2020/2/1
Y1 - 2020/2/1
N2 - The public sphere, reflected by the public discourse, is an important domain for the legitimation of technology. In the institutional literature, four pillars of legitimacy are distinguished: normative, cognitive, regulative, and pragmatic. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent these pillars can be used as a framework for analysing the legitimation of technological innovations in the public discourse. We conducted a qualitative media analysis of the case of GM food in the Netherlands, analysing 287 articles from nine Dutch newspapers in the period of 1996–2016. The results show that the pillars provide insight into legitimacy in a multi-dimensional way and serve as a structure for the dynamics of legitimation processes. Regarding GM food, the public debate was pre-dominantly negative, with a strong focus on the normative pillar. Emotional rhetoric exceeded knowledge and understanding (cognitive pillar) of GM food. The regulative and pragmatic pillars were hardly addressed.
AB - The public sphere, reflected by the public discourse, is an important domain for the legitimation of technology. In the institutional literature, four pillars of legitimacy are distinguished: normative, cognitive, regulative, and pragmatic. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent these pillars can be used as a framework for analysing the legitimation of technological innovations in the public discourse. We conducted a qualitative media analysis of the case of GM food in the Netherlands, analysing 287 articles from nine Dutch newspapers in the period of 1996–2016. The results show that the pillars provide insight into legitimacy in a multi-dimensional way and serve as a structure for the dynamics of legitimation processes. Regarding GM food, the public debate was pre-dominantly negative, with a strong focus on the normative pillar. Emotional rhetoric exceeded knowledge and understanding (cognitive pillar) of GM food. The regulative and pragmatic pillars were hardly addressed.
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
KW - Legitimacy
KW - media analysis
KW - public discourse
KW - GM food
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070335472&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09537325.2019.1648788
DO - 10.1080/09537325.2019.1648788
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85070335472
SN - 0953-7325
VL - 32
SP - 195
EP - 207
JO - Technology Analysis and Strategic Management
JF - Technology Analysis and Strategic Management
IS - 2
ER -