%0 Journal Article
%T Legitimation of value practices, value texts, and core values at public authorities
%A Anders Bj£¿rkvall
%A Catharina Nystr£¿m H£¿£¿g
%J Discourse & Communication
%@ 1750-4821
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1750481319842457
%X A large number of Swedish public authorities produce ¡®platform of values¡¯ texts that present core values. This article presents a study of how such texts and practices, including the core values they revolve around, are legitimized. Using Van Leeuwen¡¯s legitimation framework, three different data sets are analysed: 47 ¡®platform of values¡¯ texts, a focus group discussion with seven senior HR officers, and a quantitative questionnaire study answered by civil servants at three public authorities. The analysis shows how the existence of ¡®platform of values¡¯ texts and practices is legitimized through rationalizations, above all by describing the texts as concrete means for reaching specific ends and, with regard to the choice of core values, through a custom-conformity type of authority. Thus, this article addresses discursive transformations of contemporary organizations with a particular focus on available discursive space for critical thinking in the wake of New Public Management and related developments
%K Conformity
%K core values
%K discursive identity
%K legitimation
%K New Public Management
%K ¡®platform of values¡¯
%K professional practice
%K public authorities
%K rationalization
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1750481319842457