Abstract
Drawing on the pragmatic turn in contemporary social theory, we explore how corporate elites accused of corruption in
the context of weak institutions engage in their justifcation works. Empirically, we focus on three high-profle corruption
scandals that shook Ghana between 2010 and 2020 and inspired widespread public condemnation. Publicly accessible
archival documents, such as court reporting, newspaper stories, press conferences, and the digital footprints of corporate
elites implicated in the scandals provide data for our inquiry. Focussing on the juxtaposition of ‘sayings’ and ‘doings’, the
fndings show justifcation as performative, and rooted in contextual pragmatism that acknowledges the plurality of logics
situated between self-interest and folk-logic. Within this framework, the domestic and civic orders of worth emerge as most
prominent, with the justifcation processes manifesting through victimising, scapegoating, and crusading. Building on these
insights, we develop a framework that highlights how the use of justifcations serves as a critique of the inadequacies within
climates of weak institutional frameworks consequently fostering an atmosphere conducive to framing unethical conducts
as morally acceptable.
the context of weak institutions engage in their justifcation works. Empirically, we focus on three high-profle corruption
scandals that shook Ghana between 2010 and 2020 and inspired widespread public condemnation. Publicly accessible
archival documents, such as court reporting, newspaper stories, press conferences, and the digital footprints of corporate
elites implicated in the scandals provide data for our inquiry. Focussing on the juxtaposition of ‘sayings’ and ‘doings’, the
fndings show justifcation as performative, and rooted in contextual pragmatism that acknowledges the plurality of logics
situated between self-interest and folk-logic. Within this framework, the domestic and civic orders of worth emerge as most
prominent, with the justifcation processes manifesting through victimising, scapegoating, and crusading. Building on these
insights, we develop a framework that highlights how the use of justifcations serves as a critique of the inadequacies within
climates of weak institutional frameworks consequently fostering an atmosphere conducive to framing unethical conducts
as morally acceptable.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Business Ethics |
| Early online date | 15 May 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 15 May 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © Crown 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Keywords
- Economies of worth
- Justifications
- Corruption