IMpACT

As a contribution to the societal challenges of adaptive societies and industrial renewal, this project examines the processes through which business actors contribute to the dynamics of generating and (de)legitimating new legal categories. Empirically we look at the legal integration of sustainability (i.e., the collective belief and expectation that companies should pursue other societal purposes in addition to profit generation) within several industries, notably new energies and finance. We target three emergent categories that are related to sustainability and that are currently objects of heated debate and controversy: 1/ “multi-purposes corporation”, which refers to companies whose mission and activities are adapted to not only creating profit for shareholders but also to pursuing sustainable purposes, 2/ a new organizational form that expresses itself as a kind of “hybrid partnership” between multiple private and public actors who collectively pursue a shared organizational objective while remaining distinct organizations, and 3/ the notion of “excessive speculation” as a category that may have some legal consequences for business actors in the financial industry to the extent that it limits the amount and/ or the risk associated with certain types of financial transactions. We will conduct empirical case studies on the generation of these three categories in France, at the European level, and in the United States. Data sources include mainly interviews, participant observations, archival data, and other secondary sources. In terms of academic impact, we aim to advance the rapidly developing international research frontier on category emergence through the study of institutional work, notably material and visual means of legitimation. We will also contribute to the disciplinary interface between management and corporate law. As for practice impact, we seek to develop actionable knowledge that can enhance the ability of corporate and public actors to manage societal expectations related to sustainability.