”IT SOLVES A PROBLEM IN ONE PLACE, BUT IT DOES NOT SOLVE A PROBLEM IN A SOCIETY”: Discursive power in a stakeholder dialogue

Abstract

While previous work within the critical communication research has examined manifestations of power in for-profit organizations’ communication with stakeholders, communication within the non-profit sector has not been a major focus within the research field. The purpose of this study is to problematize organizational communication with stakeholders through a case study of a community dialogue in a non-profit organization. The data is collected through ethnographic observation and participation, and interviews. The study analyses power in discourse through the analytical framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), and power through discourse from the perspective of Habermas's concept of the ideal speech situation. A dominant discourse is identified that favours policy-makers and property owners by making invisible the unequal distribution of power between the local community and the other parties in the dialogue. The setup of the dialogue is found to prevent speech that does not fit into its pre-set conditions. The study concludes that critical theory is relevant for studying power in stakeholder communication in non-profit organizations as much of power enactments take place unconsciously. It also draws the methodological conclusion that the combination of ethnography and CDA allows a deep analysis of communication that enables studying unconscious processes.