Constructing the legitimacy of a financial cooperative in the cultural sector : a case study using textual analysis

This paper investigates the foundations of cooperative identity and how it is constructed by the organisation. More specifically, our research focuses on a financial cooperative in the simultaneously emerging and consolidating cultural sector. The originality of this paper lies in the methodology used—textual analysis. We use the Economies of Worth model developed by Boltanski & Thévenot (2006), which accounts for a plurality of legitimate forms of evaluation used in the processes of critique and justification.