• The Antagonistic Battle between ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ - A qualitative ana...
  Keller, Nadine  : Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle (2019)	Master thesis (two year)

  

  

  English abstract:

  Departing from the increasing threat that organized hate groups and their manipulative practices pose to contemporary society, this thesis seeks to unravel the workings of digital hate culture and to highlight the potential of civil society-led counter initiatives to combat the spread of hatred online. The research is based on a twofold qualitative content analysis. In a first step, the intended practices of two opposing groups – an organized hate group (Reconquista Germanica) and an organized counter speech group (Reconquista Internet) – are analyzed based on a set of internal strategic communication documents. In a second step, three comment threads on Facebook are examined to illustrate the actualized practices of users spreading hate and users who counter-speak. By drawing on a four-dimensional framework, the analysis thereby considers how practices, discourses, power relations, and the technological affordances of Facebook shape this interplay. With theoretical reference to Mouffe’s (2005) work on the antagonistic nature of the political and today’s post-political Zeitgeist, this thesis ultimately comes to discuss whether such confrontations between exponents of digital hate culture and counter speakers must be understood as irrefutable antagonisms or if productive agonism can be fostered through a mutual understanding of one another as legitimate adversaries. What the analysis evinces is that the discussions carried out between the two opposing camps are highly moralized, resulting in an antagonistic battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ that interferes with the possibility for productive agonism. It is further shown that, in this post-political discussion climate, counter speech carries a crucial responsibility to conform to moral values and maintain professional and ethical standards to set itself apart from the harmful practices of digital hate culture. Otherwise, as the analysis indicates, counter efforts are likely to spur on destructive dynamics, further hardening the fronts between opposing positions that characterize today’s increasingly polarized societies.

  Thesis_Nadine Keller_final.pdf   (12.38Mb)

• Madonna or Whore? Representations of prostitution in contemporary Bri...
  Campbell-Taylor, Harriet  : Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle (2019)	Master thesis (one year)

  

  

  English abstract:

  ThisthesisexploresrepresentationsofconsensualadultsexuallabourwithinBritishnewspapersT​ he Daily Mail​ and ​The Guardian.​ Through an analysis of framing methods informed by the theoretical perspectives of intersectional and postcolonial feminist theory and news media framing, the paper seeks to identify that which contributes towards the dominant representations of particular forms of sex work. It also seeks to position such representations within wider socio-cultural frameworks of reference. An exploration of the ways sex worker voices are utilised contributes to this analysis, through an application of theory surrounding source influence and representation. The thesis then seeks to ask: does the framing of sex workers as it is found within each newspaper produce more or less ‘acceptable’ forms of sex work? And if so, what are the conditions attached to such acceptability? This paper takes a methodological approach of interpretive framing analysis informed by an epistemological perspective of standpoint feminism. An adaptation of Matthes and Kohring’s (2008) framing analysis method is used for the main analytical process, with the analysis of sex worker voices having emerged from an application of theory. TheanalysisresultsindicatethewaysinwhichT​ heDailyMail​produces‘acceptable’sexwork through capitalist understandings of economic productivity. Sex workers are framed in ​The Mail across existings structures of oppression such as gender, race and class, as those who work indoors are affordedaleniencythatoutdoors-workersarenot.FramingswithinT​ heGuardian​arelessovertly presented through valuations of the work itself, and are more focused on the wider impacts of policy. However, articles by anti-prostitution campaigners provide a dominant framing of prostitution as gendered oppression. The outcomes of this research have shown sex work to be framed most consistently through its positioning in relation to existing structures of social or cultural hierarchy. This thesis argues that prostitution is, in each context, constituted through a set of assumed beliefs which are fundamentally connected to perceptions of sex, class-based tropes of social hierarchy and a colonial tendency to exploit those considered to be socially vulnerable through a discursive guise of protection.

  Harriet Campbell-Taylor Thesis (1).pdf   (682.7Kb)

• Navigating through haptics and sound: Exploring non-visual navigation...
  Giesa, Anette Isabella  : Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle (2019)	Master thesis (one year)

  

  

  English abstract:

  Bicyclist are increasingly shaping the picture of urban traffic. With regard to guided navigation through urban areas, navigation systems that are designed for this type of traffic participants do not offer a satisfying solution. Voice instructions are often perceived as annoying and far too detailed. In addition, the usage of headphones to hear these instructions reduces the hearing and localization of environmental sounds significantly. Visual information on the other hand, draws the attention too much away from the main traffic situation. This effects the ability to react to and interact with other traffic participants and the surrounding and results in a feeling of insecurity. This thesis investigates how acoustic and vibro-tactile signals can be used to provide cyclists with necessary navigation instructions while maintaining the ability to perceive ambient sounds and keep attention to the environment. In addition, the focus is placed on the experience of guided navigation with a non-visual, multi-sensory system.

  Thesis project 1 Anette Giesa-1.pdf   (3.586Mb)

• Feminism and media, opportunities and limitations of digital practices
  Boizot, Jéromine O.  : Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle (2019)	Master thesis (one year)

  

  

  English abstract:

  Researches done on social movements and media are often conducted at a micro-level, focusing on the individual activity (Klandermans 1997), or the macro level, excluding the meso level, linking the two first levels together. Furthermore, studies focusing on the relation between feminism as a social movement and media often neglect to identify the opportunities and the limitations of such an intersection. The aim of this research is to increase knowledge in this gap, offering a comprehensive conceptual framework that focuses on the three levels of interaction between media and feminist activism. Attention will also be paid to the intersection between offline and online as it ‘helps us question the bias towards online and always connected forms of activism’ . (Fotopoulou 2014) The research questions of this thesis are: How women in Great-Britain perceive the limitations and opportunities in media, to connect with the feminist movement? And How can we understand these experiences through the role of ICT linked to macro-processes such as mediatization? The findings are that the relatively new online platforms and media practices of digital and networked media are changing the landscape of how feminist activists think and fight for gender equality. They both carry the opportunities and the limitations of such a relation. Indeed, the assumption that social network and online media are a central in women’s organization is correct, however, they are not the only way of doing so and they should remain complementary. The concept of ‘digital sisterhood’ helps us to understand that complex balance and it allows us to question the different levels of activism that are being reconsidered.

  annotated-BOIZOT_FEMINISM_AND_MEDIA_PRACTICES.pdf   (597.3Kb)

• Jamaican Creole and Social Media: Acceptance in a postcolonial era?
  Stering, Yahneake  : Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle (2019)	Master thesis (one year)

  

  

  English abstract:

  As indicated by scholars dedicated to the Caribbean postcolonial realm, at the level of Celia Britton, in the postcolonial era, language continues to be a battleground for former colonial societies. As Britton argues, the colonial language has emphasized otherness within these societies and has become an avenue of social promotion for an elite group of the colonized. Within these societies, the colonial language is still the formal language and is given high prestige while the language of the decolonized people continues to be frowned upon. Jamaican Creole falls within the category of languages that suffers from low prestige. Nevertheless, there seems to be a current pushback from the people who, through interactive computer-mediated technologies, have obtained a voice of their own and are no longer confined by traditional forms of media. In this context, this paper presents both a qualitative and quantitative study of the perspective of the modern-day Jamaican citizen regarding Jamaican Creole. The findings of this research show that Jamaicans are moving towards the acceptance of its Creole while wielding social media as an avenue through which this social change is occurring.

  Sterling Y DP 19 V3.pdf   (1.746Mb)

View more