Acting with genres: discursive-ethical concepts for reflecting on and legitimating genres

Received: 27 May 2005 Revised: 16 December 2005 Accepted: 3 January 2006 Abstract The concept of genre represents a meaningful pattern of communication, which has been applied in the information systems field. Genres are socially constructed: they may consequently be socially more or less acceptable or contested. This paper focuses on the concept of communicative genre and addresses the issue of how meta-communication processes guided by discursive-ethical principles can promote a rational and legitimate definition, design and structuring of genres. Such a meta-communication process has not yet been thoroughly discussed in relation to the concept of genre as a means for structuring (organizational) communication. This paper claims to make the following contributions: firstly, it provides a wider spectrum of discursive concepts for critically reflecting on and discursive evaluation of the content and structures of genres and genre instances. Secondly, it demonstrates how different kinds of meta-communications (ex ante, in-action, and ex post) can be used to legitimate genres in a manner compatible with the discourse ethics. It illustrates the discourse-ethical viewpoint concerning the legitimacy of genre structuring processes and thus, also, the legitimacy of resultant norms and contents of communication, especially in global contexts. European Journal of Information Systems (2006) 15, 54–69. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000595