This study aims to examine positive attitudes towards a certain group of immigrants in a group that is normally negative against them. Furthermore creating an understanding of their perception of what a “real” refugee is. The refugees chosen are Ukrainians due to the Russian invasion in 2022, and the empirical field of attitudes is studied on the online forum Flashback. To answer this, two questions were formed; how can the Ukrainian refugees' established status be understood, despite not being established in Swedish society? and how do the users on Flashback define what a “real” refugee is? The study has used a qualitative approach with a netnographic method. A thread with roughly 1500 posts about whether Sweden should accept Ukrainian refugees was the main source of empirical material. The posts in the forum were analyzed by using Elias and Scotson's (2011) theory “the established and the outsiders”, and the “racialization” theory. The results showed that the Ukrainian refugees' established status can be understood through cultural ideas about a shared western race with the same values. When the users applied a race on the Ukrainians and on themselves, they also did it to the existing immigrants in the country, which can be understood as a way to elevate their own status through the idea that like-minded people will come into the country and improve it. The Ukrainians were defined as the “perfect” refugee, with qualities that the users believed the Swedish society needed. These qualities were easy to integrate, well-educated and toughness.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-121593 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Haarberg, Julia, Johansson, Olle |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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