The foie gras wars: an exploratory study of divergent legitimacy in controversial sectors

Controversial organizations are present in every sector and in all economies. They differ from illegitimate organizations in that they are not considered undesirable by all members of society despite objectionable elements in their products, services or activities. The demands posed to them by their opponents and proponents are persistent and incompatible with each other, yet, the organizations cannot ignore them if they want to maintain their legitimacy. We argue that whenever the legitimacy outcome is without saliency in favor or against scrutinized organizations, legitimacy is divergent. In this paper, we seek to shed light on how organizations deal with divergent legitimacy and the constant scrutiny of activist groups and public policy makers. Based on an original case study in the French Foie Gras industry, we find that this industry has structured itself to counteract activist groups by engaging with public policy makers. We furthermore observe that communication has become a central element in mana...