A Civil Society Conundrum: Gaining legitimacy with stakeholders as a Vietnamese NGO working with gender and sexuality
(2012) SKOM12 20121Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- Questions concerning sexuality and gender have only recently become the focus of social research and advocacy in Vietnam. Sexuality and gender are taboo subjects and non-heterosexual and trans persons often face discrimination, stigmatization or invisibility and civil society is in certain respects restricted. The purpose of the following thesis is therefore to investigate how a Vietnamese non-governmental organization working to increase the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans persons in Vietnam legitimizes itself in its communication with stakeholders. Interviews with the organization’s staff and critical discourse analysis of written material have been used as methods of analysis. The analysis suggests that the organization’s... (More)
- Questions concerning sexuality and gender have only recently become the focus of social research and advocacy in Vietnam. Sexuality and gender are taboo subjects and non-heterosexual and trans persons often face discrimination, stigmatization or invisibility and civil society is in certain respects restricted. The purpose of the following thesis is therefore to investigate how a Vietnamese non-governmental organization working to increase the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans persons in Vietnam legitimizes itself in its communication with stakeholders. Interviews with the organization’s staff and critical discourse analysis of written material have been used as methods of analysis. The analysis suggests that the organization’s use of discourses prevalent in the mainstream of civil society and emphasis on its role as expert on its area of work contributes to its legitimacy with donors, while emphasis on scientific discourse might be a way of navigating taboo-laden subjects in relation to mass media. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Frågor som behandlar sexualitet och genus har endast på senare tid hamnat i fokus för samhällsvetenskaplig forskning och advocacy i Vietnam. Sexualitet och genus är ämnen som är tabu och icke-heterosexuella personer och transpersoner möter ofta diskriminering, stigmatisering eller osynliggörande och civilsamhället är till viss del begränsat. Syftet med följande uppsats är därför att undersöka hur en vietnamesisk icke-statlig organisation som arbetar för lesbiskas, bögars, bisexuellas och transpersons rättigheter i Vietnam legitimerar sig i sin kommunikation med intressenter. Intervjuer med organisationens medarbetare och kritisk diskursanalys av skrivet material har använts som metoder i analysen. Analysen pekar på att organisationens... (More)
- Frågor som behandlar sexualitet och genus har endast på senare tid hamnat i fokus för samhällsvetenskaplig forskning och advocacy i Vietnam. Sexualitet och genus är ämnen som är tabu och icke-heterosexuella personer och transpersoner möter ofta diskriminering, stigmatisering eller osynliggörande och civilsamhället är till viss del begränsat. Syftet med följande uppsats är därför att undersöka hur en vietnamesisk icke-statlig organisation som arbetar för lesbiskas, bögars, bisexuellas och transpersons rättigheter i Vietnam legitimerar sig i sin kommunikation med intressenter. Intervjuer med organisationens medarbetare och kritisk diskursanalys av skrivet material har använts som metoder i analysen. Analysen pekar på att organisationens användning av förhärskande diskurser i ”huvudfåran” av civilsamhället och vikt vid dess roll som expert i sitt verksamhetsområde bidrar till dess legitimitet hos givare, medan betoning på vetenskaplig diskurs kan vara ett sätt att navigera tabubelagda ämnen i relation till massmedia. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2702105
- author
- Dau, Sao-Mai LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOM12 20121
- year
- 2012
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- organizational legitimacy, civil society, institutionalism, discourse, sexuality, gender, Minor Field Study
- language
- English
- id
- 2702105
- date added to LUP
- 2012-08-29 10:52:45
- date last changed
- 2014-09-04 08:36:18
@misc{2702105,
abstract = {{Questions concerning sexuality and gender have only recently become the focus of social research and advocacy in Vietnam. Sexuality and gender are taboo subjects and non-heterosexual and trans persons often face discrimination, stigmatization or invisibility and civil society is in certain respects restricted. The purpose of the following thesis is therefore to investigate how a Vietnamese non-governmental organization working to increase the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans persons in Vietnam legitimizes itself in its communication with stakeholders. Interviews with the organization’s staff and critical discourse analysis of written material have been used as methods of analysis. The analysis suggests that the organization’s use of discourses prevalent in the mainstream of civil society and emphasis on its role as expert on its area of work contributes to its legitimacy with donors, while emphasis on scientific discourse might be a way of navigating taboo-laden subjects in relation to mass media.}},
author = {{Dau, Sao-Mai}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{A Civil Society Conundrum: Gaining legitimacy with stakeholders as a Vietnamese NGO working with gender and sexuality}},
year = {{2012}},
}