The Communication And Narrative Of Legitimizing A Marginal Organization

Non-governmental organizations,compared with official organizations,face more challenges in obtaining legitimacy in contemporary Chinese society.Based on a case study of The Vitality Research Community(VRC),this paper aims to illustrate how a marginal organization seeks to achieve legitimacy and recognition through a variety of communication practices,including a multimedia channel and hybridized discursive strategies,to ensure self-legitimacy realized from within the organization first and then expanding to the outside.VRC,due to its non-official nature,has to fight for legitimacy constantly.VRC advocates holistic thinking associated with postmodernism,to go beyond limitations and obstructions posed by current social circumstances and disciplinary frameworks.In the process of self-legitimacy,VRC works like an eraser,blurring boundaries among different disciplines and between sensibility and rationality.