The formation of boundaries between established and emergent categories is a complex social process. Therein, our understanding of how symbolic boundaries translate into regulatory boundaries is underdeveloped. Extant research either treats laws and regulations for categories as given or assumes a seamless translation of a symbolic into a regulatory boundary. This sidelines that market participants actively contest and shape boundaries between categories. To address this lacuna, we open the black box of how symbolic boundaries are translated into regulatory boundaries. We adopt a discursive perspective and conduct a longitudinal study of the contestation around the categories of home sharing and short-term rental in Europe. Our analysis shows how symbolic and regulatory boundaries are formed in a causal sequential process, driven by shifts in the field positioning of market actors and in the discursive accounts they mobilize. We develop a theoretical model of the discursive foundation of category boundary formation. At the heart of our theorization are discursive accounts and how shifting coalitions of market participants mobilize them to shape the evolving symbolic and regulatory boundaries between an emergent and an established category. We contribute to category research by unearthing the interdependent formation of symbolic and regulatory boundaries and the role of discursive accounts in these processes.

中文翻译：

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符号和监管边界的相互依赖的形成：围绕家庭共享类别的话语争论

已建立类别和新兴类别之间界限的形成是一个复杂的社会过程。其中，我们对符号边界如何转化为监管边界的理解尚不成熟。现有的研究要么将法律和法规视为给定的类别，要么假设将符号无缝转换为监管边界。这使得市场参与者积极竞争并塑造类别之间的界限。为了解决这个缺陷，我们打开了如何将符号边界转化为监管边界的黑匣子。我们采用话语视角，对欧洲围绕房屋共享和短租类别的争论进行纵向研究。我们的分析表明，在市场参与者的现场定位及其所动员的话语账户的变化的驱动下，符号和监管边界是如何在因果序列过程中形成的。我们开发了类别边界形成的话语基础的理论模型。我们理论的核心是话语解释，以及不断变化的市场参与者联盟如何动员他们来塑造新兴类别和既定类别之间不断变化的符号和监管边界。我们通过挖掘符号和监管边界的相互依存的形成以及话语帐户在这些过程中的作用来为类别研究做出贡献。