POLITICS, SYMBOLIC ACTION AND MYTH MAKING IN PURSUIT OF LEGITIMACY

This paper focuses on the micropolitical behaviour of a group of four individuals who were able to gain acceptance for their interpretation of events as a project unfolded through symbolic action, myth making and control over the flow of information. It is suggested that these devices were resorted to in order to create a facade of project-risk minimization in ways which were in part self-deceptive and ego-enhancing. The research contribution this paper makes is twofold. First, it illustrates the social, symbolic and political processes by which a select group were able to manipulate other actors' understandings of complex organizational events. Second, it suggests that apparently irrational and uninformed decisions may have a rational and intelligible basis when interpreted as politically motivated symbolic acts required for legitimation purposes.