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Learning about the learner : An analysis of policies for Swedish public libraries with focus on learning

Berlage, Klara LU (2020) ABMM54 20201
Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
Abstract
This thesis examines how learning is depicted in policy documents for public libraries on municipal and national level in Sweden. The documents analyzed are library plans from five Swedish cities, as well as the proposal for a national strategy presented in 2019 by the National Library of Sweden. The method used is Carol Bacchi’s What’s the problem represented to be-approach. Pierre Bourdieu’s theories on habitus, field, and capital are applied in the analysis, alongside the concepts of problematization, power, governmentality, and genealogy. I will show that the ambiguous definition of key terms (e.g. democracy, learning etc.) creates little room for renegotiating how libraries function. This has effects on societal groups depicted in... (More)
This thesis examines how learning is depicted in policy documents for public libraries on municipal and national level in Sweden. The documents analyzed are library plans from five Swedish cities, as well as the proposal for a national strategy presented in 2019 by the National Library of Sweden. The method used is Carol Bacchi’s What’s the problem represented to be-approach. Pierre Bourdieu’s theories on habitus, field, and capital are applied in the analysis, alongside the concepts of problematization, power, governmentality, and genealogy. I will show that the ambiguous definition of key terms (e.g. democracy, learning etc.) creates little room for renegotiating how libraries function. This has effects on societal groups depicted in library policies, as well as on librarians’ and other professionals’ work. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Berlage, Klara LU
supervisor
organization
course
ABMM54 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Public libraries, learning, lifelong learning, popular adult education, proposal for a national strategy, library plans, policies, policy documents, WPR, What’s the problem represented to be, discourse analysis, habitus, field, capital, problematization, power, governmentality, genealogy.
language
English
id
9013133
date added to LUP
2020-08-18 08:48:41
date last changed
2020-08-18 08:48:41
@misc{9013133,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how learning is depicted in policy documents for public libraries on municipal and national level in Sweden. The documents analyzed are library plans from five Swedish cities, as well as the proposal for a national strategy presented in 2019 by the National Library of Sweden. The method used is Carol Bacchi’s What’s the problem represented to be-approach. Pierre Bourdieu’s theories on habitus, field, and capital are applied in the analysis, alongside the concepts of problematization, power, governmentality, and genealogy. I will show that the ambiguous definition of key terms (e.g. democracy, learning etc.) creates little room for renegotiating how libraries function. This has effects on societal groups depicted in library policies, as well as on librarians’ and other professionals’ work.}},
  author       = {{Berlage, Klara}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Learning about the learner : An analysis of policies for Swedish public libraries with focus on learning}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}