“Resposta aos nossos críticos”: discursos de defesa organizacional, créditos de confiança e pretensões de solidariedade

Abstract

The article reflects on the discursive behavior of organizations when denounced for abuses against public good faith. Understanding that such denunciations create disputes of meaning in the field of public opinion, the text argues that Leon Mayhew's theoretical contributions may reveal elements of the organizational defense discourse. For this, two movements are undertaken. Firstly, Mayhew's ideas are presented, with an emphasis on trust credits and warrants of solidarity. Then, the results of a qualitative research about the responses to critics of the Heartland Institute are discussed. The results of this research point to the relevance of these criteria, highlighting how the defensive discourse occurs in a dual way from the reaffirmation and manufacture of trust credits and from the attacks on the warrants of solidarity of the critics or whistleblowers.