Figure 4
The diagram shows three horizontal rectangles arranged in a vertical series labeled from top to bottom as follows: “Standard-Setting Hegemony (Core)”, which contains the text “The top-tier institutions (for example, I S S B, E F R A G, Big Four) that hold Symbolic Capital; E U Institutions and Transnational Standard-Setters”, “Symbolic Mimicry and Strategic Translation (Adopters)”, which contains the text “The mid-tier actors such as Global South regulators or companies who adopt the standards for legitimacy but retain limited power to shape standards”, and “Epistemic Marginalization (Local Practices)”, which contains the text “The bottom-tier actors such as community organizations face epistemic exclusion and voice suppression; Contextual sustainability knowledge non-compliant and invisible within standardized reporting”. A thick upward arrow with text reading “Indigenous knowledge extracted without recognition; non-financial narratives and community metrics excluded from formal standards” points from “Epistemic Marginalization (Local Practices)” to “Standard-Setting Hegemony (Core)” on the left. A thick upward arrow with text reading “Symbolic Capital Accumulation via Standard Compliance” points from “Symbolic Mimicry and Strategic Translation (Adopters)” to “Standard-Setting Hegemony (Core)” in the center. A thick downward arrow with text reading “Top-down Western standards; framed voluntary; structurally coercive” points from “Standard-Setting Hegemony (Core)” to “Symbolic Mimicry and Strategic Translation (Adopters)”. A downward arrow with text reading “Standardized Metrics Enforcement” points from “Symbolic Mimicry and Strategic Translation (Adopters)” to “Epistemic Marginalization (Local Practices)” in the center. A thick upward arrow with text reading “Aspirations for Legitimacy” points from “Epistemic Marginalization (Local Practices)” to “Symbolic Mimicry and Strategic Translation (Adopters)” on the right.Hierarchies of symbolic violence and epistemic stratification in sustainability accounting. Source: Author’s own work