DISCOUNTING

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Abstract
Collectives occasionally find it necessary, or desirable, to engage in untoward acts. Problematic action, however, is a threat to both the individual identities of group members and the definition of the situation on which collective action rests. This study examines a means by which groups are able to selectively disregard their principles and still preserve definitions of themselves built on the violated ideals. The process is called discounting, four types of which were observed: coercion, exception, denial, and concealment. These rhetorical legitimations are grounded in data collected by the author as a participant observer at a “natural food” cooperative.

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