This essay examines the public debate concerning the unemployment of Sweden just before the general election 2005. Its main purpose is to analyse what lies behind the huge differences in statistics, as presented by the two leading factions in the debate. It concludes that these differences are foremost a problem of semantics, and that although the two factions have statistical proof of their claims, it is their use of terminology that is in fact their main weapon in the debate.The key word here is the swedish word for employment – sysselsättning – which the two facitons use in entirely different ways, creating a lot of possabilities for interpretation. This has caused a type of debate which is actually about the reinterpretation this word, and those who are to be included in the statistics as being “sysselsatt”, therefore, it is semantics that affects the number of unemployed people in the statistics.

The dissertation explores the field of information policy in a historic setting in Sweden, namely the early 1970s. At the time the question of privacy in relation to databanks, data systems and personal records was intensively discussed in all public media, starting in the fall of 1970 when a large-scale population census was carried out in Sweden. The political discussions and public debate resulted in the first Swedish data protection law, Datalag (1973:289), and was counted as one of the first of this type of national legislation in the world. The focus of the empirical study lies in the analysis of the lines of arguments, political reasoning and debates concerning privacy, data protection, information and technology in documents such as official reports, committee reports, proposals and parliamentary records and publications that were produced in the policy process preceding the new legislation. The public debate itself is investigated through the editorials and reports in the daily press of the time. A combination of discourse analysis and agenda-setting theory, as it is presented and used by the political scientist John W Kingdon, constitutes the theoretical framework of the thesis. The study is introduced with a discussion concerning discourse and language use in politics, and here Norman Faircloughs CDA, Critical Discourse Analysis, has been the main inspiration. Kingdon’s agendasetting model contributes with an interesting theoretical perspective on the social and political context of the discourses under study. The research questions also draw upon library and information science and theoretical work within the area of information policy, with issues concerning notions of information and technology, for example information as a public good versus private good in the market, and information as a free or restricted/protected resource. The main findings of the study imply that the political discussion and debate on databanks and privacy were heavily influenced by a public-oriented discourse focusing mainly on governmental authorities’ own use of information systems holding personal data. The new legislation, datalag (1973:289) could also be seen as a tool that sanctions governmental authorities’ extensive use and dependence on new data technologies and automatic data-processing in building up the welfare state and the growing public sector. The discourse was also based on a mixed notion of the new technology, perceiving data technology mainly as the “big machine” which contains a vast amount of personal information. This, at a time when the technology itself was transforming rapidly from bulky machines to personal computers. The practical effects of this discourse could be seen, for example, in the serious underestimation of the overall use of automatic data-processing in society as a whole, the use of which the legislation was set to regulate. When it comes to agenda-setting the public debate together with the activities of different actors in parliament had a major influence on the outcome of the work of the commission of inquiry that was set up. The public debate affected how the problem area of databanks and privacy was considered, but the commission formulated the actual legislation independently, without interference or adjustments by the social democratic government. / <p>Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten vid Göteborgs universitet för vinnande av doktorsexamen framläggs till offentlig granskning kl. 13.15 fredagen den</p><p>11 september 2009 i hörsalen C204, Högskolan i Borås, Allégatan 1 Institutionen Biblioteks- och Informationsvetenskap/Bibliotekshögskolan, Högskolan i Borås och Göteborgs universitet</p>

This study examined the civic properties afforded by Twitter and considered whether hashtag communities achieve issues-pluralism in order to facilitate at least some viewpoints to popular expression otherwise absent from print media. Data sources included Twitter hashtag communities that formed around the 2013 Alberta Budget and the associated print media coverage. This inquiry found that while diverse actors contribute to the formation of Twitter hashtag communities, the associated discussion failed to drive issues-pluralism. Twitter's most apparent value to civil society is information exchange--both in terms of tweet content and hyperlinked content and multimedia. In spite of this strength, Twitter is ill-suited as a communicative forum for civil society. Discussion uptake and opinion expression were relatively modest among participants, and the conversation was overwhelmingly dominated and driven by agents of traditional news media intent on perpetuating roles in content gatekeeping and who operated in the service of profits.

This descriptive study focuses on analyzing the factors influencing public debate on intensified Finnish-Swedish defence cooperation, using qualitative abductive content analysis (a combination of Grounded theory analysis and text/content analysis) as the research method. The study was conducted using a model adapted from Tomas Valasek’s hypothesis on pooling and sharing (Surviving Austerity - The case for a new approach to EU military collaboration, 2011), inducted from a corpus collected from Finnish and Swedish public defence debates from 1.1.2013 to 31.3.2014. The main research question is: what are the driving forces influencing debate on intensified bilateral Finnish-Swedish defence. Secondary research questions were developed from the corpus in four categories: historical, political/military, economic and attitudinal factors. Using these as the analysis model, the corpus was deductively analyzed to increase understanding of the individual factors and to find driving forces. The main result of this study is that the existence or lack of trust is seen as a key driving force influencing debate, either furthering or hindering cooperation. Other driving forces seen as influencing debate are the existence or lack of: understanding of the historical background of cooperation from both countries’ point of view commitment and clarity of political/military goals political commitment to the political/military purposes of cooperation instead of domestic economic gain a legally binding framework for cooperation.

This thesis analyses the process of institutionalisation of the concept of genetically modified organism (GMO) in the UK between 1986-1993. The existing accounts of the GM debate have focussed on either the 1970s or the 1990s. Very little, however, has been said about the 1980s, long before that of GMOs became a popular issue. Through a detailed examination of the PROSAMO initiative – a series of experiments aimed at determining the environmental impact of GMOs with a regulatory purpose in mind – this thesis have been able to explore the important but rather neglected role of the UK dominant institutions in the historical development of the debate over the release of GMOs into the environment. In analysing the way ‘GMO’ institutionalised between the late 1980s and early 1990s, this thesis shows that the concepts of risk and uncertainty – which have dominated the GM debate – need to be conceived as collective constructs that are used strategically in order to pursue various objectives related to the context in which people using them operate. It is also argued that the legitimate use of these concepts is bound to the credibility and the authority of science. These considerations have stimulated some reflections on the nature and role of regulation in the GM debate. In particular, it is argued that the move from a voluntary system of controls to a statutory one represents a move from an epistemic community approach to policy-making to a logic of bureaucratic politics, in which the literal interpretation of rules became a solution to political disagreement. As rule following became a political requirement, GMOs became a bureaucratic issue and scientists turned into bureaucrats. Within these changes, the role of scientific expertise in the definition of GMOs decreased. From this point of view, the way ‘genetic modification’ and GMO institutionalised gave rise to new practices and behaviours that turned around GMO as a controversial but nevertheless stable category.

Esta dissertação descreve e analisa o debate público sobre o projeto do Pontal do Estaleiro entre as esferas pública, política e midiática. O terreno referente ao Pontal do Estaleiro se tornou uma polêmica durante a revisão do Plano Diretor de Desenvolvimento Urbano e Ambiental de Porto Alegre. Este projeto monopolizou um debate entre novembro de 2008 e agosto de 2009, ao sair do escopo da revisão do plano diretor e solicitar alteração da Lei Complementar 470 de 02/01/2002 (LC 470/2002) para permitir edificações residenciais em espaço de orla às margens do Guaíba. A polêmica rendeu duas aprovações do projeto, veto do prefeito e audiências públicas na Câmara de Vereadores. Acabou resultando em deliberação pública através da realização de uma consulta à população. O trabalho aborda a circularidade das questões nas cinco principais fases do debate, a partir das especificidades de cada instância. Na esfera política, analisaram-se os movimentos de accountability (prestação de contas) em notícias publicadas pela Câmara de Vereadores e Prefeitura Municipal nos respectivos sites. Na esfera pública, foram identificados os argumentos da arena de interlocução através da observação participante de uma audiência pública, duas reuniões do Fórum de Entidades e de entrevistas realizadas no dia da consulta pública. Na esfera midiática, foram examinadas as questões enquadradas nas principais coberturas jornalísticas sobre o Pontal, realizadas pelos jornais Zero Hora, Correio do Povo e Jornal do Comércio. Concluiu-se que as esferas realizam diferentes tipos de comunicação no debate. A esfera pública substanciou os principais argumentos que foram discutidos no debate público. Juntamente com a esfera política, foi mais permeável à circulação de questões em debate, mas ambas não conseguiram agendar a esfera midiática na exposição argumentativa. Assim, a mídia se mostrou menos permeável aos argumentos reduzindo a amplitude do debate público. / This thesis describes and analyzes the public debate on the development proposal for Pontal do Estaleiro between the public, politics and media spheres. Pontal do Estaleiro’s property became controversial during the revision of the Master Plan for Urban and Environmental Development of Porto Alegre. This project was the main focus of a debate between the months of November 2008 and August 2009, when it left the scope of the Master Plan review and a change of the Complementary Law 470 of 01/02/2002 (LC 470/2002) was requested in order to allow residential buildings to be built on the coast of Guaíba Lake. The controversy was such that the project had two approvals, the mayor's veto and public hearings at the City Council. It eventually was resolved through public deliberation by a query within the population. This work addresses the issues of circularity in the five main stages of the debate considering the specificities of each instance. In the public sphere, the arguments of the arena for dialogue were identified through participant observation of a public hearing, two meetings of the Forum of Entities and interviews done during the public consultation. In the political sphere, the movements of accountability were analyzed in reports published by the City Council and City Hall on their websites. In the media sphere, issues framed in the main news coverage on the Pontal made by Zero Hora, Correio do Povo and Jornal do Comércio were examined. It was concluded that the spheres carry different types of communication throughout the debate. The public sphere has substantiated the main arguments that have been discussed in public debate. Along with the political sphere, it was more open to the circulation of issues under discussion, but both failed to influence the media sphere's agenda towards the explanatory argument. Thus, the media showed itself less susceptible to arguments, reducing the extent of public debate.

<p>In contemporary public debate there is currently a great deal of focus attached to environmental problems and social responsibility. This trend is noticeable within the clothing industry, where it has become increasingly popular for new brands to market themselves with an environmental and ethical profile. An anthropological approach has been used to investigate how individuals understand ethical dimensions of clothing, and relates to the consumers’ ideals that are pronounced by clothing companies with an environmental and ethical profile. Interviews have been conducted with young men, a group often absent in accounts of ethical consumption. From these conversations, it is possible to discuss wider processes going on in society at large. Contemporary discourse on ethical shopping appears to rest on the assumption that the individual is able to freely choose among merchandise available on the market, and is placed in a central position of responsibility towards human and non-human others. There is a need for research that challenges this view. From the material it became visible that there existed a strong boundary from the informants´ point of view of what was mentioned as social problems or global issues, and of what they considered reasonable of themselves to bear responsibility for. Distrust was expressed against ongoing public debate that was considered to be too one-sided. Barely any references existed of ecological and fair made fashion, suggesting a generational gap in experiences of this kind of clothing. The study is considered to stimulate for further research in the area of ethical shopping of clothes.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Purpose/Aim: To investigate how the positions between the paper, the public and the elite in society have changed on Aftonbladets Op-Eds and Letter to the editor-pages between 1999 to 2005. In a wider context this means Aftonbladets potential to contribute to the role of the press as a forum of public debate.</p><p>Material/Method: The study focuses on one week during 1999, 2002 and 2005. Here a quantitative contents analyse with inspiration from conversation (dialogue) analyse has been used.</p><p>Main results: The study shows that the paper has strengthened its position over this period of time. Mainly by taking a more active role in forming and encouraging the debate. The public was given more space in 2002, then in 1999 and 2005. But on the other hand, in 2005 the public got, through the papers more active role, a stronger role themselves and by that, they strengthened their position too. Aftonbladet also broaden the debate to the Internet, whereby enlarging the papers own role as a forum of public debate. The elite temporarily was weakened in 2002 but regained its volume in 2005. However with more restraints put on it by the paper and the public.</p><p>Keywords: Aftonbladet, Public debate, Newspaper, Press, Op-Ed, Letter to the editor, Quantitative contents analyse, Conversation (dialogue) analyse</p>

In contemporary public debate there is currently a great deal of focus attached to environmental problems and social responsibility. This trend is noticeable within the clothing industry, where it has become increasingly popular for new brands to market themselves with an environmental and ethical profile. An anthropological approach has been used to investigate how individuals understand ethical dimensions of clothing, and relates to the consumers’ ideals that are pronounced by clothing companies with an environmental and ethical profile. Interviews have been conducted with young men, a group often absent in accounts of ethical consumption. From these conversations, it is possible to discuss wider processes going on in society at large. Contemporary discourse on ethical shopping appears to rest on the assumption that the individual is able to freely choose among merchandise available on the market, and is placed in a central position of responsibility towards human and non-human others. There is a need for research that challenges this view. From the material it became visible that there existed a strong boundary from the informants´ point of view of what was mentioned as social problems or global issues, and of what they considered reasonable of themselves to bear responsibility for. Distrust was expressed against ongoing public debate that was considered to be too one-sided. Barely any references existed of ecological and fair made fashion, suggesting a generational gap in experiences of this kind of clothing. The study is considered to stimulate for further research in the area of ethical shopping of clothes.

Abstract Purpose/Aim: To investigate how the positions between the paper, the public and the elite in society have changed on Aftonbladets Op-Eds and Letter to the editor-pages between 1999 to 2005. In a wider context this means Aftonbladets potential to contribute to the role of the press as a forum of public debate. Material/Method: The study focuses on one week during 1999, 2002 and 2005. Here a quantitative contents analyse with inspiration from conversation (dialogue) analyse has been used. Main results: The study shows that the paper has strengthened its position over this period of time. Mainly by taking a more active role in forming and encouraging the debate. The public was given more space in 2002, then in 1999 and 2005. But on the other hand, in 2005 the public got, through the papers more active role, a stronger role themselves and by that, they strengthened their position too. Aftonbladet also broaden the debate to the Internet, whereby enlarging the papers own role as a forum of public debate. The elite temporarily was weakened in 2002 but regained its volume in 2005. However with more restraints put on it by the paper and the public. Keywords: Aftonbladet, Public debate, Newspaper, Press, Op-Ed, Letter to the editor, Quantitative contents analyse, Conversation (dialogue) analyse