Ideology and Moral Reasoning: How wine was saved from the 19th century phylloxera epidemic
Winston Kwon, Panos Constantinides
Organization Studies · 2018 · Volume 39 · Issue 8
Abstract
Extant organizational research into crises has focused on the efforts of different actors to defend and legitimate their ideologies towards particular actions. Although insightful, such research has offered little knowledge about the moral reasoning underlying such action. In this paper, we explore how moral reasoning from different ideological viewpoints can lead to polarized debates and stalemate within the context of ecological crises. We apply our conceptual framework in an analysis of the 19 th century French phylloxera epidemic. Drawing upon this analysis, we argue that, by adapting their moral reasoning, opposing stakeholder groups could maintain their underlying ideology, while at the same time pragmatically changing their actions towards the crisis. We discuss the theoretical implications of our analysis for historical research in organizational studies and research on organizations and the natural environment.
Keywords
ecological crises, ideology, moral reasoning, phylloxera epidemic
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