Hobbes's Meaning of Hostility & Politics of an Apology: The Double-edge of Organizational Legitimation. Strategic and Institutional Approaches in Crisis Communication

The management of meaning may involve a variety of stakeholders, all of whom play a part in the way an apology or a hostile attitude is presented, interpreted, and received. It depends on a strategic and institutionalist approach to see the double - edge of organizational legitimation: hostility and apology. As with all forms of management of meaning, apologies and aggressive attitudes must be seen as parts of a wider political process where different parties seek to draw in neutrals by adopting a moral high ground, where alliances are formed and dissolved and where conflicts move from one terrain to another, assuming different forms as they do so. Finally, is tied up to the management of unpredictable emotions unleashed by the earlier destabilization of meaning. Apology versus hostility, in presence and absence, is an important aspect in the emotional life of groups, organizations, and even nations.