No description available.

Swedish Amnesty was founded in 1964 for the purpose of working for the release of prisoners of conscience. Forty years later the organization has expanded its realm of activity to include ideas such as women’s rights, homosexuals’ rights and corporate responsibility for human rights. When these ideas were first introduced, they challenged prevailing assumptions about what the organization should be concerned with. Adopting a longitudinal approach, this dissertation investigates how these three ideas have been transformed from organizational anomalies into organizational practices. This study contributes to organizational institutional theory in general, and the translation of ideas in particular. The study shows that the translation of ideas in an organization is characterized more by conflicting interests and power relationships than previous research in the area has suggested. Four different editing strategies through which ideas were translated into practice could be seen: assimilation, colonization, creolization, and loose coupling. The processes were driven by institutional entrepreneurs who had a personal interest in the ideas and who saw the organization as a tool for promoting their development in society. The entrepreneurs were primarily new members who were shaped more by their historical life trajectories than by the organizational context into which they had entered. The study shows that the institutionalization of ideas about new practices is an incremental process in which ideas are translated into the organization in piecemeal versions. It suggests that institutionalization is an ongoing process in which the practice changes continuously. At the same time this process is also characterized by a certain amount of stability. New practices blend elements of old ones. Finally, this study has shown that organizational identities and interests are not antecedents of action, but rather are something emerging in the translation process.

The importance of NGOs has been on the rise since the World War II. Amnesty International is one the best-known human rights nongovernmental organizations which has been globally successful in human rights agenda setting. This Diploma thesis analyzes the common features of three selected successful Amnesty International campaigns and aims to determine key attributes that can help to reach the goals of human rights campaigns.

The aim of this Master thesis is to find out whether the lobbying carried out by Amnesty International France as NGO is different from the lobbying carried out by professional lobbying organizations, which means the organizations which promote primarily the interests of its own members. From the general theory of lobbying and theory of lobbying of NGOS the tools for creating pressure on politics was chosen and factors which could influence usage of these tools were identified. Then it was verified if these tools are really used by Amnesty International France and by which factors the tools are picked up. Expected result of this research was that lobbing of Amnesty International France as NGO is specific because of different circumstances, reasons and goals of lobbying from the professional lobbying. From the results of interpretation of Amnesty International France's documents and interviews with persons involved in the lobbying strategy imply that this NGO really choose some different tools from professional lobbying and is influenced by different factors. But there are also similarities.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of sportswashing, an attempt to improve its reputation through buying the English football club Newcastle United. The purpose of this paper is to explore through a discourse analysis how Saudi Arabia's action to acquire Newcastle United can be seen as an exercise of power, and whether and how the images presented construct and reinforce orientalist discourses about the Saudi state and the region. The discourse analysis is conducted using Laclau and Mouffe's methodology and the theoretical framework applied is Joseph Nye's soft power, Edward Said's Orientalism and hegemony. Based on the international newspaper The Guardian and the human rights organization Amnesty International, orientalist discourses have been identified and the purchase of Newcastle United has resulted in soft disempowerment effects for Saudi Arabia. Local newspaper The Chronicle also constructed orientalist discourses about the state of Saudi Arabia but legitimizes the purchase of Newcastle United making the soft power exercise successful.

<p>Fokus i uppsatsen är begreppet mångfald och svenska Amnesty. Utgångspunkten är dels det oproblematiserade och positiva talet om mångfald som kommer till uttryck i den offentliga debatten i Sverige och dels det faktum att den svenska sektionen av Amnesty International nyligen tagit beslut om att införa ett"mångfaldsperspektiv"i syfte att genomsyra all organisation och verksamhet.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är formulerat i två steg: som ett första steg analyserar jag uppfattningar och föreställningar om Amnesty som organisation, och om dess medlemmar och som ett andra steg gör jag - med särskilt fokus på etniska och kulturella aspekter - en analys av hur mångfald förstås i intervjuerna och hur denna förståelse relateras till svenska Amnesty som organisation. Kvalitativa intervjuer med sex aktiva medlemmar inom svenska Amnesty utgör grunden för analysen. Ett socialkonstruktionistiskt inspirerat synsätt används som teoretisk referensram och begrepp som etnicitet, kultur, mångkulturalism och kategorisering är centrala och används som teoretiska verktyg i analysen.</p><p>De huvudsakliga slutsatserna av analysen är att den bild av Amnesty, och dess medlemmar, som kommer till uttryck i intervjuerna är nästintill uteslutande positiv, vilket får till följd att en diskussion om utanförskap och diskriminering i rörelsen inte ges något direkt utrymme. Mångfald förstås i mångt och mycket i termer av en representation av olika"kategorier"av människor såsom "män", "kvinnor", "invandrare", "icke-akademiker". En oreflekterad och oproblematiserad förståelse av mångfald riskerar att"låsa fast"människors olikheter i"kategorier"och på så sätt riskerar olikheter att essentialiseras. Det problematiska i talet om mångfald är inte att man fokuserar på människors olikheter utan att olikhetsdiskussionen snarare utgår från olika kategorier av människor än från individer.</p> / <p>The focus of this study is the concept of diversity and the movement of Amnesty International in Sweden. The starting-point of the study is partly the unproblematic and positive way of referring to diversity in Swedish working life and the public debate and partly the decision taken by Amnesty in Sweden to introduce a “diversity-policy” in the association.</p><p>The aim of the study is expressed in two steps: firstly, my aim is to analyse the understanding of Amnesty as an organisation, expressed by active Amnesty-members in Sweden. Secondly, my aim is to analyse the understanding of diversity, expressed by the members, and the way this understanding refers to the movement of Amnesty in Sweden. The empirical material is primarily based upon qualitative in-depths interviews with six active Amnesty-members. Social constructionism is used as a theoretical frame of reference and concepts as ethnicity, culture, multiculturalism and categorizing are essential in the study and used as theoretical tools in the analysis.</p><p>The main results are that the image of Amnesty and its members given in the interviews, is, in principle, exclusively positive, giving no space for a discussion of discrimination in the organisation. The understanding of diversity is based upon a conception of representation of different categories of people, such as “men”, “women”, “immigrants”, “non-academics” etc. The unproblematic way of speaking of diversity run the risk of strengthen the conception of “difference” based upon different categories of people, not individuals.</p>

No description available.

This study investigates the relationship between the individual and their monthly donation to the INGO Amnesty International Sweden as a process of identity stimulation. Problematizing how consuming a brand whichdoes not give anything concrete back to the individual communicates through core values in order to strengthen identity. The study uses theories from Zygmunt Bauman, Sidney Levy, Lilie Chouliaraki and Ronald E. Anderson. According to research for the relationship between the individual and brand there has been a shift where the individual choses brands from other parameters than function, rather this is made from its representation. Therefore consuming brands is an expression for identity. Furthermore research about charity organizations states that there has been a shift in how they communicate and affect individuals’ need to reduce suffering - identity stimulation - as a consequence of neoliberalism. The study is constructed through a qualitative methodology that collects empirical data from responsive- and flexible deep interviews, with respondents who donates monthly to Amnesty International Sweden and are in the age gap between 18-30 years old. The study does not aim for a generalization of the result, rather it investigates how identity can be stimulated through Amnesty International Sweden using concepts as self-oriented, others-oriented and reduce suffering. The result proves what have been stated by former theories, were the relationship between the individual and brand functions as an identity stimulation through different aspects such as identification and distance, the individual as a product and ways to materialize this. However, there has been a clear shift in the individuals awareness of online and offline behaviour which affects how they present themselves as a product. As pointed out earlier by theories from Bauman and Levy, the resultemphasizesthat the individual consumes a brand that represents themselves and strengthens their identity individually and to their social environment. Lastly,the study discuss its result of new individual behavior online and offline as a consequence of neoliberalism and how research within media- and communication studies can further help us understand how communication technology and political forces can affect each other in regards of individual behaviour. The study and its result is situated in the junction between the digital communicative sphere and constant political changes.

Fokus i uppsatsen är begreppet mångfald och svenska Amnesty. Utgångspunkten är dels det oproblematiserade och positiva talet om mångfald som kommer till uttryck i den offentliga debatten i Sverige och dels det faktum att den svenska sektionen av Amnesty International nyligen tagit beslut om att införa ett"mångfaldsperspektiv"i syfte att genomsyra all organisation och verksamhet. Syftet med uppsatsen är formulerat i två steg: som ett första steg analyserar jag uppfattningar och föreställningar om Amnesty som organisation, och om dess medlemmar och som ett andra steg gör jag - med särskilt fokus på etniska och kulturella aspekter - en analys av hur mångfald förstås i intervjuerna och hur denna förståelse relateras till svenska Amnesty som organisation. Kvalitativa intervjuer med sex aktiva medlemmar inom svenska Amnesty utgör grunden för analysen. Ett socialkonstruktionistiskt inspirerat synsätt används som teoretisk referensram och begrepp som etnicitet, kultur, mångkulturalism och kategorisering är centrala och används som teoretiska verktyg i analysen. De huvudsakliga slutsatserna av analysen är att den bild av Amnesty, och dess medlemmar, som kommer till uttryck i intervjuerna är nästintill uteslutande positiv, vilket får till följd att en diskussion om utanförskap och diskriminering i rörelsen inte ges något direkt utrymme. Mångfald förstås i mångt och mycket i termer av en representation av olika"kategorier"av människor såsom "män", "kvinnor", "invandrare", "icke-akademiker". En oreflekterad och oproblematiserad förståelse av mångfald riskerar att"låsa fast"människors olikheter i"kategorier"och på så sätt riskerar olikheter att essentialiseras. Det problematiska i talet om mångfald är inte att man fokuserar på människors olikheter utan att olikhetsdiskussionen snarare utgår från olika kategorier av människor än från individer. / The focus of this study is the concept of diversity and the movement of Amnesty International in Sweden. The starting-point of the study is partly the unproblematic and positive way of referring to diversity in Swedish working life and the public debate and partly the decision taken by Amnesty in Sweden to introduce a “diversity-policy” in the association. The aim of the study is expressed in two steps: firstly, my aim is to analyse the understanding of Amnesty as an organisation, expressed by active Amnesty-members in Sweden. Secondly, my aim is to analyse the understanding of diversity, expressed by the members, and the way this understanding refers to the movement of Amnesty in Sweden. The empirical material is primarily based upon qualitative in-depths interviews with six active Amnesty-members. Social constructionism is used as a theoretical frame of reference and concepts as ethnicity, culture, multiculturalism and categorizing are essential in the study and used as theoretical tools in the analysis. The main results are that the image of Amnesty and its members given in the interviews, is, in principle, exclusively positive, giving no space for a discussion of discrimination in the organisation. The understanding of diversity is based upon a conception of representation of different categories of people, such as “men”, “women”, “immigrants”, “non-academics” etc. The unproblematic way of speaking of diversity run the risk of strengthen the conception of “difference” based upon different categories of people, not individuals.

In this paper, Jürgen Habermas' account on 'The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere' will be set into relation with the emergence of INGOs as actors in the public sphere. The emergence of NGOs, and later INGOs, can be closely linked to the transformation of the public sphere as described by Habermas. An account from the early beginnings of non-governmental associations to the institutionalized status of INGOs following the establishment of the UN aims to describe the roots and roles of such organizations as actors within the public sphere more precisely. The concept of 'good governance' will be related to the commitments of the INGO Accountability Charter of which Amnesty International (AI) is a signatory. The case of AI will then be used as an example to apply the insights gained from the theoretical perspectives explored before. The question of whether AI is successful in its application of good governance relies on the definition of 'successful'. In this paper, the definition is given by Habermas' definition of the actorness in the transformed public sphere and the fulfilment of the commitments to the INGO Accountability Charter. Identifying AI as an actor in the public sphere provides the ground on which the development and controversies surrounding this INGO will be analyzed. Understanding the role AI aspires to play is an important factor. In this context, the controversies AI has faced in the public eye become a starting point into the inquiry of what role good governance plays in AI's communicative efforts. These, in turn, are a key to the organization's attempts to counterbalance negative perceptions and to maintain its position as a successful communicative actor. The end will be formed by conclusions given on the analysis of AI's employment of good governance in transformed, transnational civil society. Points for future research will be indicated if applicable.