Dépeindre la finance comme une « force pour le bien » : analyse de discours du Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).

This article looks at the discourse of the impact investing industry (a term that designates an investment whose stated intention is to produce both a social or environmental impact and a financial return on investment) through the case of the Global Impact Investing Network, one of the largest organizations promoting this investment approach worldwide. Illustrating the 'caring' shift (Barman E., 2015) in capitalist discourse at the beginning of the 21st century, impact investors argue that it is possible to finance businesses with a mission to solve social or environmental problems (poverty, poor access to education or health, non-renewable energy, climate or biodiversity crisis, etc.) without having to sacrifice financial returns. Based on a document analysis, we first describe the vague concept of impact investing which is at the heart of its discourse. To make impact exist and promote its discourse, the GIIN uses two 'concretization' techniques: objectification techniques make impact exist through measurements and quantifiable indicators. Exemplification techniques focus on investors and emphasize their intentions as opposed to investees or beneficiary populations. Finally, we show that the concept of impact investment is supported by a more general discourse that is built around a so-called 'win-win' logic. According to the GIIN, this new practice of sustainable finance would have the advantage of producing only winners, thus reversing the idea that what is gained on one side is lost on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]