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Under 2023 fördes i Sverige en intensiv debatt kring de pågående protesterna i form av bränningar av koranen. I debatten har flera av partierna lagt fram förslag på möjliga lagändringar i syfte att stoppa bränningarna. I denna studie undersöker jag hur svenska politiker inramat koranbränningarna i den svenska korandebatten, och vilken retorik som använts för att legitimera de åtgärder som presenteras. Utöver att fördjupa förståelsen för hur politiker i Sverige kan legitimera åtgärder för att stoppa protester så är syftet med studien också att fylla den lucka som bristen på tidigare forskning kring säkerhetisering av koranbränningar utgör i forskningsfältet om säkerhetisering av protester. För att utföra studien genomför jag en kvalitativ framinganalys av ett urval av material under perioden 2023, från Moderaterna, Socialdemokraterna och Sverigedemokraterna. Urvalet av materialet görs utifrån vad som anses representativt för partiernas officiella ståndpunkt i debatten. Materialet, och dess resultat, diskuteras sedan utifrån en idealtypsdesign, där resultatet bedöms utifrån hur väl det stämmer överens med idealtypen av en säkerhetisering av en koranbränning. Resultatet av studien visar att Moderaterna och Socialdemokraterna framställer koranbränningarna som ett säkerhetshot, till skillnad från Sverigedemokraterna. Moderaterna och Socialdemokraterna uppvisar också tecken på säkerhetisering av koranbränningarna, vilket Sverigedemokraterna inte gör. Resultatet visar alltså att det förekommer säkerhetisering i den svenska korandebatten, av vissa partier, och att den säkerhetiseringen i mångt och mycket, men inte alltid, liknar den säkerhetisering som förekommit av tidigare protester. Studien har därmed bidragit till att utöka bredden i empirin för forskningsfältet om säkerhetisering av protester.

This dissertation investigates the role of digital media for contentious collective action. More precisely, it focuses on German anti-asylum-shelter (AAS) groups on Facebook and the way these organizations’ usage of platform affordances can be read from an adaptation of the framework of Modes of Coordination (MoC) of collective action. To do so, the thesis starts with an inquiry of the theoretical debate on the role of information and communication technology for social movements and collective action and highlights some misconceptions and discrepancies, especially on the role of formal organizations (chapter II). It argues to carefully explore the different interorganizational ties that form between AAS-groups and the networks that emerge from these in light of the two dimensions of resource exchange and boundary definition. After that, chapter III provides detailed accounts of case selection and data collection and of the research questions that structure the subsequent analyses. To answer these, chapter IV-i explores the temporal and spatial activity patterns of AAS-groups both on- and offline, finding a clear correspondence between the two. Chapter IV-ii uses topic modelling to explore the content of groups’ communication, identifying a narrative of the reasonable and peaceful in-group and a combination of criminal (asylum-seekers), treacherous (politicians) and lying (press) outgroups. This clearly debunks a narrative of centrist “concerned citizens” and shows the deeply racist and right-wing extremist nature of AAS activity. The third empirical part (chapter IV-iii) discusses five types of networks that emerge from groups’ activities and combines these into four different MoC. We can identify a prevalence of the organizational mode of coordination, that involves limited exchange in terms of both resource exchange and boundary definition. However, a small but dense network also emerges from those ties that are defined by the social movement mode. Exponential Random Graph Modelling shows that while spatial proximity is a key determinant for tie formation across all modes, the role of formal organizations (right-wing parties) must not be dismissed. In fact, it differs both by party and by MoC in question. Overall, as chapter V sums up, the dissertation proves the relevance of a relational perspective to the study of digitally mediated collective action in general, as well as of an adapted framework of MoC in particular.

In recent decades, there has been a considerable expansion of citizen participation in protests and voluntary advocacy groups. To analyze this development, the social movement literature and the interest group literature have emerged. Yet these two bodies of literature have not communicated with each other and have rarely incorporated knowledge from other fields in political science. As a result, critical questions remain unanswered regarding the political influence of advocacy groups. How do they affect politicians? To what degree do informal groups use lobbying tactics? Are socioeconomically advantaged groups more influential? This thesis endeavors to address the above shortcomings by bridging the literature on social movements, interest groups and political parties. The purpose of the thesis is to explain if and how advocacy groups affect public policy and to analyze which resources that are required to influence political decisions. The focus is on informal and loosely organized social movement organizations (informal SMOs): parental networks, staff networks, and village networks. To test my arguments, I use a unique database on protests and lobbying against school closures in Sweden. Closures of public schools have been one of the most important drivers of political activism in Sweden. The results are presented in three essays. Essay I tests new electoral mechanisms that could condition the political influence of advocacy groups. The results suggest that the political influence of informal SMOs on school closure decisions varies according to the type of voter they mobilize: swing voters or core voters. Essay II demonstrates how informal SMOs use lobbying tactics, such as presenting policy-relevant information, to influence politicians. Social movement scholars often focus on protests and ignore lobbying tactics. However, the results show that SMOs that present policy-relevant information are more likely to stop school closures than SMOs that mobilize large protests. Essay III analyzes which informal SMOs exchange policy-relevant information with politicians. Previous studies on the use of lobbying tactics have ignored activist resources. My results suggest that SMOs mobilizing high-income activists and activists with analytical and civic skills are more likely to present policy-relevant information. This is problematic given normative ideals of equal access to decision-making by all members of society.

于一个国家而言，民众抗争不仅是一个政府治理和治安问题，也是一个战略沟通问题。本研究即选取社会沟通的视角研究当代中国的社会抗争，旨在了解当代中国逐渐开放的抗争话语的演变、产生条件及其深刻意义。 / 于定量与定性相结合的研究方法，本文分析了1990至2010年间中国政治社会精英关于民众抗争的话语。研究发现在抗争数量和规模不断增长的同时，抗争的话语环境发生了显著变化并向日趋宽松的方向发展。中国的政治领导人正逐步正视民众抗争，官方话语也开始同情抗争者。从对抗争的报道来看，以往严密的媒体审查制度逐渐放宽，重大事件的详细报道得以频见于报端。与此同时，越来越多的人士加入到抗争的公开讨论中，社会抗争成为激烈的社会争论的焦点。 / 于以上分析，本文认为政治领导人的话语转变可以被理解为执政当局在一党执政和官民矛盾日益激化的特定条件下为促进政策实施和维持政权合法性而采取的手段，知识分子越来越直言不讳地提出批评意见则源于“话语机会结构的扩展。结合这些见解与已有文献表明，当代中国公民抗争和公共话语似乎彼此促进，形成了一个自我强化的循环。 / 研究意义而言，本研究首先探讨了“话语机会这一概念的价值及其局限性，继而指出民众抗争，精英话语和政权演变之间存在重要的联系。本文发现，只要能够触动社会精英阶层并激起他们的回应，即使是非持续性的，非跨区域性的公民抗争也会带来抗争政治参与空间隐性但却显著的扩展，以及政治话语实践的转变。因此，虽然抗争者没有直接挑战共产党政权，但他们的行动已经从某种程度上促进了中国的政权演变。 / For the state, popular protest is not merely a problem of governance and policing, but also an issue of strategic communication. Investigating protest in contemporary China from a communicative and elite-centered perspective, this dissertation shows that in parallel to the constantly growing number and scale of protests, the communicative environment of citizen resistance over the last two decades was significantly transformed and liberalized. Based on a mixed quantitative and qualitative analysis of political discourse between 1990 and 2010, the study seeks to understand the evolution, conditions, and significance of this widening discursive opening. / The research reveals that the Chinese political leadership gradually addressed the problem of popular protest in the open and shifted its discourse towards more protester-sympathizing assessments. Moreover, tight censorship was gradually lifted and detailed accounts of major protest events emerged in the news media. In parallel to these developments, the topic became accessible to a growing circle of speakers and eventually emerged at the center of a lively and increasingly critical public debate. / Based on this assessment, the present study argues that the political leadership’s discourse can be rendered intelligible as a policy endeavor and a regime-legitimating instrument under the particular conditions of one-party rule and rising citizen-cadre conflict. Moreover, the increasingly outspoken critique from intellectuals can be explained when the opening of the discursive opportunity structure is taken into account. Combining these insights with the available literature suggests that grassroots activism and elite discourse in China may be interlocked into a self-reinforcing cycle. / This research points to both the value and the limitations of the discursive opportunity approach. Moreover, the study also reveals important links between popular protest, elite discourse, and the dynamics of regime evolution. By provoking reactions from the elites, even the persistently episodic and localized forms of citizen resistance have led to an implicit, but still substantial expansion of space for contentious political participation and a modification of discursive political practices. Thus, even though most Chinese protesters may not have challenged the regime head-on, their activism has contributed to an ongoing evolution of the political order. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Steinhardt, Heinz Christoph. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 248-271). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / Table of contents --- p.v / Acknowledgements --- p.viii / Tables, figures, and appendices --- p.xi / Abbreviations --- p.xiii / Newspapers, magazines, news agencies, television channels, and online portals cited --- p.xiv / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / The objective and contribution of this research --- p.4 / A preview of the argument --- p.7 / Conceptual underpinnings --- p.10 / Data and methodology --- p.24 / Chapter description --- p.32 / Chapter 2 --- Background: historical legacies and post-Tiananmen protest --- p.34 / History: official misconduct and the right to resist --- p.34 / Popular protest after 1989: not regime-challenging but increasingly threatening --- p.47 / Conclusion --- p.60 / Chapter 3 --- The central Party leadership: public and internal communication --- p.61 / The appearance and disappearance of key terms over time --- p.62 / From reluctant acknowledgment to open problematization --- p.69 / Conclusion --- p.115 / Chapter 4 --- The news media versus local authorities: protest events and a transforming flow of information --- p.119 / A transforming flow of information and the Chinese state --- p.123 / The emergence of protest events in the news media --- p.130 / Conclusion --- p.159 / Chapter 5 --- The intellectuals: the emergence of critical non-activists --- p.161 / The discursive setting --- p.163 / Tracing intellectuals’ discourse --- p.169 / Conclusion --- p.194 / Chapter 6 --- The driving forces and significance of a widening discursive opening --- p.197 / The dynamics of discursive change --- p.197 / Protest discourse and the practices of protesting and protest policing --- p.221 / Concluding remarks --- p.229 / Appendices --- p.237 / Bibliography --- p.248

Both Sharon Hayes’s "In the Near Future" (2005-2009) and Catherine Opie’s photographs of assemblies and rallies (2007—) take protest as a topic of investigation. Hayes enacts solo protests in urban centers and documents her project’s iterations; Opie attends organized marches and demonstrations and photographs the gathered crowds. Yet while both projects perform or picture protest in the present-day, neither is wholly of this moment. In her staged actions, Hayes holds the signs and slogans of earlier social movements, and both she and Opie create and consider the images they capture in relation to experiences and visual records which predate them. This thesis considers the ways in which expectations and desires for present and future moments are rooted in understandings of social or political pasts, investigating the work of Hayes and Opie alongside the events of Occupy Wall Street and the histories of the movements these artists reference: ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), Queer Nation, and the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968. Focusing on the role of the documentary image in the creation and remembrance of historical events, the paper looks at how the longing to reinhabit a pictured past becomes incorporated within a desire to feel historical, and how fantasies of the past and future are absorbed into the charged space of present. Concentrating first on this temporal rearrangement (referred to by Hayes as an “unspooling of history”) and turning next to the reengagement and embodiment of symbolic imagery, this thesis explores how works by Hayes and Opie emphasize disappointment in the present scene while simultaneously endeavoring to establish alternative spaces of social and political possibility—both new sites and reimagined worlds of belonging. / text

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