Some earlier studies have explored the peripheralization of sparsely populated municipalities and the urban-rural divide, both in Sweden and abroad. However, few studies have explored if central actors in the Swedish crisis management system puts these municipalities in their peripheralization according to the ones who conduct the crisis management in the sparsely populated municipalities. Therefore, this study aims to help fill that knowledge gap by capturing the attitudes and experiences from the ones working with crisis preparedness in those municipalities, regarding the handbooks and the other support the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency offers. The study is conducted by semi-structured interviews with those who work with crisis preparedness on a municipal level, in sparsely populated regions. After the interviews a narrative method, together with analysis tools from Michael Foucault’s theories about power dynamics is applied. Although many good things were said about the handbooks, the results presented two narratives. The first about the peripheralization of the rural areas and the other about an understanding of the urban perspective. An application of the analysis tools made it clear that power dynamics where visible in the narratives. The urban areas have the power to create norms and exclude the rural perspective, while at the same time making it fair and reasonable according to the ones who are affected by it. Which clearly illustrates the power dynamics at play.

Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur Folkhälsomyndigheten, Socialstyrelsen och Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB) konstruerar identiteter och gemenskaper med de inledande anförandena under de myndighetsgemensamma pressträffarna om covid-19. Materialet utgörs av 40 transkriberade anföranden från perioden mars 2020 till januari 2021 som analyseras i tre steg. I det första identifieras samtliga personliga pronomen i subjektsposition, och VI- och MAN-omtalens klusivitet kategoriseras. I det andra bestäms vilka processtyper som talarna realiserar med omtalen utifrån systemisk-funktionell grammatik. Därefter grupperas omtalen i tre gemenskaper: Myndigheten, Situationen och Allmänheten. I det sista steget analyseras graden av dialogicitet i gemenskaperna utifrån appraisalteorin. Därtill identifieras ett urval samhörighetsmarkörer. Resultatet visar att de tre myndigheterna använder sex typer av VI och fyra typer av MAN. De föredrar att tala om Myndigheten och framställa den som handlingskraftig och kunnig, en karakterisering de också förutsätter att lyssnaren delar. Situationen som gemenskap präglas av beskrivningar och tolkningar, medan Allmänheten formas med uppmaningar och instruktioner. På vilket sätt myndigheterna omtalar gemenskaperna, och i vilken utsträckning de öppnar för andra perspektiv, varierar. Skillnaderna i de språkliga valen kan till viss del förklaras av myndigheternas skilda uppdrag och målgrupper. Men det utbredda användandet av mottagarinkluderande VI bör studeras vidare för att fastställa om inkluderandet är ett uttryck för en tillfällig närhetsskapande kriskommunikationsstrategi eller en indikation på en ytterligare informalisering av myndighetsspråket. / This thesis investigates how three Swedish public authorities – the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the National Board of Health and Welfare, and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency – establish identities and alliances in their initial statements during the joint press conferences on covid-19. The material consists of 40 statements made between March 2020 and January 2021. The transcribed statements are analysed in three steps. First, each personal pronoun in the subject position is identified, and the clusivity of first-person plural VI (we) and generic MAN (one) are categorized. Second, the process associated with these pronouns is determined using the systemic functional grammar framework. The categories are then grouped into three speaker-included alliances: The Authority, The Situation, and The General public. In the third step, based on the Appraisal framework these alliances are analysed by the level of engagement stated by the speaker. A selection of lexical indicators of belongingness is also identified. The result shows that the three authorities use six types of first-person plural VI and four types of generic pronoun MAN. They prefer to talk about The Authority and portray it as vigorous and knowledgeable, a characterization they expect the listener to share. The Situation is characterized by descriptions and interpretations, while The General public is established with exhortations and instructions. How the authorities define the alliances and to what extent they are open to other perspectives varies. The differences in linguistic choices can, to a certain degree, be explained by the authorities’ different responsibilities and target audiences. However, the wide dispersive use of a first-person plural VI which includes the public should be further studied to determine if it expresses a crisis communications strategy to temporarily achieve proximity to the citizens or indicates a continuing informalization of the official language.