I'm a social scientist with a passion for qualitative empirical inquiry. My current research interests include organizational legitimacy in the context of the multinational corporation, the use of historical methods in organization studies, and the political role of multinational corporations in current global society.
Bulletin de la Commission royale d'histoire. Académie royale de Belgique
Au printemps de 1898, le prince Albert de Belgique -le futur roi Albert Ier -a visite les Etats-U... more Au printemps de 1898, le prince Albert de Belgique -le futur roi Albert Ier -a visite les Etats-Unis, le nord du Mexique et le sud-est du Canada. Il s'agissait d'un grand voyage d'etudes qui faisait partie de sa preparation a la royaute. Le 11 mars 1898, le prince a ete recu par le president americain William McKinley et ensuite, il a voyage a travers l'Amerique du Nord, ou il a visite plusieurs grandes entreprises, universites et organisations caritatives. Pendant son voyage, Albert a note ses experiences dans un journal de route. Cet article contient une edition critique de son rapport de voyage et essaie de clarifier le contexte dans lequel cette visite princiere aux Etats-Unis et au Canada a eu lieu. De cette facon, nous esperons completer l'historiographie existante sur les annees de formation et la personnalite du prince. En outre, le carnet de voyage nous montre comment l'Amerique du Nord etait percue a la fin du XIXe siecle par un aristocrate eminent de l'Europe occidentale.
Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia... more Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia, less attention has been given to the processes underlying the failure of gender equality initiatives to enhance gender representation, especially at the professorial level. We offer a critical discourse analysis of recently promulgated gender policy documents of the five Flemish universities, and demonstrate that defensive institutional work is a fundamental process underlying resistance to gender equality in the academic profession. That is, powerful organizational actors resist gender change by (un)intentionally deploying a combination of discursive strategies that legitimate what we describe as non–time-bound gender equality initiatives: The expected outcomes are undetermined in time, and they delegitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive ...
While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimiz... more While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimize contested corporate practices, less attention has been given to the role of ideologies or broader belief systems, underlying discursive (de)legitimation. Analyzing newspaper articles published after the announcement of two highly debated corporate restructurings in Belgium during the Great Recession, we identify the ideologies underlying (de)legitimizing statements and examine the discursive strategies through which social actors reproduce elements of these ideologies in legitimacy struggles. We show how the ideologies of ‘neoliberal capitalism’ and ‘humanistic capitalism’ shape framings of the restructurings, identity constructions of actors involved and propositions for government measures to prevent future restructurings from happening. Apart from predictable patterns of reproduction, we discern four creative reproduction strategies: ‘refutation of elements of ideological representa...
In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to u... more In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to understand how a sense of legitimacy is maintained for a controversial actor over a long period of time. Analyzing articles in The Economist that address opposition against multinational corporations during the current wave of globalization, we identify and situate the different multinational corporation-related controversies and discursive legitimation strategies in their specific historical context. Our historical interpretation suggests three phases, each representing the discursive creation of particular actor images that either legitimize multinational corporations or de-legitimize its opponents. From our findings, we propose that, over time, the nature of discursive legitimation changes and introduce ‘discursive antagonism’ and ‘discursive co-optation’ as two different forms of legitimation. We further reflect on our present understanding of multinational corporations, reinterpretin...
Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia... more Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia, less attention has been given to the processes underlying the failure of gender equality initiatives to enhance gender representation, especially at the professorial level. We offer a critical discourse analysis of recently promulgated gender policy documents of the five Flemish universities, and demonstrate that defensive institutional work is a fundamental process underlying resistance to gender equality in the academic profession. That is, powerful organizational actors resist gender change by (un)intentionally deploying a combination of discursive strategies that legitimate what we describe as non–time-bound gender equality initiatives: The expected outcomes are undetermined in time, and they delegitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive institutional work deflects questions regarding what ought to be achieved when, and contributes to the slow pace of gender change in academia.
In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to u... more In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to understand how a sense of legitimacy is maintained for a controversial actor over a long period of time. Analyzing articles in The Economist that address opposition against multinational corporations during the current wave of globalization, we identify and situate the different multinational corporation-related controversies and discursive legitimation strategies in their specific historical context. Our historical interpretation suggests three phases, each representing the discursive creation of particular actor images that either legitimize multinational corporations or de-legitimize its opponents. From our findings, we propose that, over time, the nature of discursive legitimation changes and introduce ‘discursive antagonism’ and ‘discursive co-optation’ as two different forms of legitimation. We further reflect on our present understanding of multinational corporations, reinterpreting their current political role as a historical product of the legitimacy process over time.
While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimiz... more While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimize contested corporate practices, less attention has been given to the role of ideologies or broader belief systems, underlying discursive (de)legitimation. Analyzing newspaper articles published after the announcement of two highly debated corporate restructurings in Belgium during the Great Recession, we identify the ideologies underlying (de)legitimizing statements and examine the discursive strategies through which social actors reproduce elements of these ideologies in legitimacy struggles. We show how the ideologies of ‘neoliberal capitalism’ and ‘humanistic capitalism’ shape framings of the restructurings, identity constructions of actors involved and propositions for government measures to prevent future restructurings from happening. Apart from predictable patterns of reproduction, we discern four creative reproduction strategies: ‘refutation of elements of ideological representations’, ‘appropriation of key vocabularies’, ‘hybridization of ideological representations’, and ‘ideological pioneering’. Our study contributes by (1) providing novel insights into how ideologies function as discursive resources for (de)legitimation of contested corporate undertakings, (2) reconsidering the political nature of (de)legitimizing statements, and (3) reflecting on the (im)possibility of resistance against globalization-driven restructurings in multinational corporations and the neoliberal ideological project in general.
Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia... more Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia, less attention has been given to the processes underlying the failure of gender equality initiatives to enhance gender representation, especially at the professorial level. We offer a critical discourse analysis of recently promulgated gender policy documents of the five Flemish universities, and demonstrate that defensive institutional work is a fundamental process underlying resistance to gender equality in the academic profession. That is, powerful organizational actors resist gender change by (un)intentionally deploying a combination of discursive strategies that legitimate what we describe as non-time-bound gender equality initiatives: The expected outcomes are undetermined in time, and they de-legitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive institutional work deflects questions regarding what ought to be achieved when, and contributes to the slow pace of gender change in academia.
Bulletin de la Commission royale d'histoire. Académie royale de Belgique
Au printemps de 1898, le prince Albert de Belgique -le futur roi Albert Ier -a visite les Etats-U... more Au printemps de 1898, le prince Albert de Belgique -le futur roi Albert Ier -a visite les Etats-Unis, le nord du Mexique et le sud-est du Canada. Il s'agissait d'un grand voyage d'etudes qui faisait partie de sa preparation a la royaute. Le 11 mars 1898, le prince a ete recu par le president americain William McKinley et ensuite, il a voyage a travers l'Amerique du Nord, ou il a visite plusieurs grandes entreprises, universites et organisations caritatives. Pendant son voyage, Albert a note ses experiences dans un journal de route. Cet article contient une edition critique de son rapport de voyage et essaie de clarifier le contexte dans lequel cette visite princiere aux Etats-Unis et au Canada a eu lieu. De cette facon, nous esperons completer l'historiographie existante sur les annees de formation et la personnalite du prince. En outre, le carnet de voyage nous montre comment l'Amerique du Nord etait percue a la fin du XIXe siecle par un aristocrate eminent de l'Europe occidentale.
Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia... more Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia, less attention has been given to the processes underlying the failure of gender equality initiatives to enhance gender representation, especially at the professorial level. We offer a critical discourse analysis of recently promulgated gender policy documents of the five Flemish universities, and demonstrate that defensive institutional work is a fundamental process underlying resistance to gender equality in the academic profession. That is, powerful organizational actors resist gender change by (un)intentionally deploying a combination of discursive strategies that legitimate what we describe as non–time-bound gender equality initiatives: The expected outcomes are undetermined in time, and they delegitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive ...
While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimiz... more While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimize contested corporate practices, less attention has been given to the role of ideologies or broader belief systems, underlying discursive (de)legitimation. Analyzing newspaper articles published after the announcement of two highly debated corporate restructurings in Belgium during the Great Recession, we identify the ideologies underlying (de)legitimizing statements and examine the discursive strategies through which social actors reproduce elements of these ideologies in legitimacy struggles. We show how the ideologies of ‘neoliberal capitalism’ and ‘humanistic capitalism’ shape framings of the restructurings, identity constructions of actors involved and propositions for government measures to prevent future restructurings from happening. Apart from predictable patterns of reproduction, we discern four creative reproduction strategies: ‘refutation of elements of ideological representa...
In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to u... more In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to understand how a sense of legitimacy is maintained for a controversial actor over a long period of time. Analyzing articles in The Economist that address opposition against multinational corporations during the current wave of globalization, we identify and situate the different multinational corporation-related controversies and discursive legitimation strategies in their specific historical context. Our historical interpretation suggests three phases, each representing the discursive creation of particular actor images that either legitimize multinational corporations or de-legitimize its opponents. From our findings, we propose that, over time, the nature of discursive legitimation changes and introduce ‘discursive antagonism’ and ‘discursive co-optation’ as two different forms of legitimation. We further reflect on our present understanding of multinational corporations, reinterpretin...
Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia... more Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia, less attention has been given to the processes underlying the failure of gender equality initiatives to enhance gender representation, especially at the professorial level. We offer a critical discourse analysis of recently promulgated gender policy documents of the five Flemish universities, and demonstrate that defensive institutional work is a fundamental process underlying resistance to gender equality in the academic profession. That is, powerful organizational actors resist gender change by (un)intentionally deploying a combination of discursive strategies that legitimate what we describe as non–time-bound gender equality initiatives: The expected outcomes are undetermined in time, and they delegitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive institutional work deflects questions regarding what ought to be achieved when, and contributes to the slow pace of gender change in academia.
In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to u... more In this study, we explicitly engage with the historical dimension of discursive legitimation to understand how a sense of legitimacy is maintained for a controversial actor over a long period of time. Analyzing articles in The Economist that address opposition against multinational corporations during the current wave of globalization, we identify and situate the different multinational corporation-related controversies and discursive legitimation strategies in their specific historical context. Our historical interpretation suggests three phases, each representing the discursive creation of particular actor images that either legitimize multinational corporations or de-legitimize its opponents. From our findings, we propose that, over time, the nature of discursive legitimation changes and introduce ‘discursive antagonism’ and ‘discursive co-optation’ as two different forms of legitimation. We further reflect on our present understanding of multinational corporations, reinterpreting their current political role as a historical product of the legitimacy process over time.
While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimiz... more While scholars have examined how micro-textual argumentative strategies are used to (de)legitimize contested corporate practices, less attention has been given to the role of ideologies or broader belief systems, underlying discursive (de)legitimation. Analyzing newspaper articles published after the announcement of two highly debated corporate restructurings in Belgium during the Great Recession, we identify the ideologies underlying (de)legitimizing statements and examine the discursive strategies through which social actors reproduce elements of these ideologies in legitimacy struggles. We show how the ideologies of ‘neoliberal capitalism’ and ‘humanistic capitalism’ shape framings of the restructurings, identity constructions of actors involved and propositions for government measures to prevent future restructurings from happening. Apart from predictable patterns of reproduction, we discern four creative reproduction strategies: ‘refutation of elements of ideological representations’, ‘appropriation of key vocabularies’, ‘hybridization of ideological representations’, and ‘ideological pioneering’. Our study contributes by (1) providing novel insights into how ideologies function as discursive resources for (de)legitimation of contested corporate undertakings, (2) reconsidering the political nature of (de)legitimizing statements, and (3) reflecting on the (im)possibility of resistance against globalization-driven restructurings in multinational corporations and the neoliberal ideological project in general.
Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia... more Although a large number of studies have explored the main causes of gender inequality in academia, less attention has been given to the processes underlying the failure of gender equality initiatives to enhance gender representation, especially at the professorial level. We offer a critical discourse analysis of recently promulgated gender policy documents of the five Flemish universities, and demonstrate that defensive institutional work is a fundamental process underlying resistance to gender equality in the academic profession. That is, powerful organizational actors resist gender change by (un)intentionally deploying a combination of discursive strategies that legitimate what we describe as non-time-bound gender equality initiatives: The expected outcomes are undetermined in time, and they de-legitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive institutional work deflects questions regarding what ought to be achieved when, and contributes to the slow pace of gender change in academia.
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Papers by Joost Luyckx
time, and they delegitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive institutional work deflects questions regarding what
ought to be achieved when, and contributes to the slow pace of gender change in academia.
Articles by Joost Luyckx
time, and they delegitimate concrete, time-bound measures that define specific outcomes against well-defined deadlines. By explicitly bringing a temporal dimension into our analysis, we argue that defensive institutional work deflects questions regarding what
ought to be achieved when, and contributes to the slow pace of gender change in academia.