Det paradoxala biblioteket : folkbiblioteken och den fria åsiktsbildningen i ett osäkert informationsklimat
(2021) ABMM54 20211Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Abstract
- Public libraries in Sweden have a statutory task to contribute to a strengthened democracy through the dissemination of knowledge and the free formation of opinion. The latter is often understood as libraries being impartial to their users and collections. New conditions in the information climate have brought new challenges for the free formation of opinion, such as disinformation and polarization. This may also affect how the libraries conduct their work.
This master's thesis explores how public libraries understand the mission of free opinion formation and what challenges they identify in the current information climate. The essay also examines if there’s a potential conflict between the two aspects of the democratic mission. The... (More) - Public libraries in Sweden have a statutory task to contribute to a strengthened democracy through the dissemination of knowledge and the free formation of opinion. The latter is often understood as libraries being impartial to their users and collections. New conditions in the information climate have brought new challenges for the free formation of opinion, such as disinformation and polarization. This may also affect how the libraries conduct their work.
This master's thesis explores how public libraries understand the mission of free opinion formation and what challenges they identify in the current information climate. The essay also examines if there’s a potential conflict between the two aspects of the democratic mission. The survey is conducted through a discourse analysis of fourteen policy documents. The analysis is based on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's political discourse theory. The study also uses Chantal Mouffe's theory of agonistic pluralism in the discussion of the result.
The results show that the policy documents contain at least five different discursive understandings when it comes to the role of the library in supporting the free formation of opinion, and that there are several identified challenges in the current information climate which affect this role, including copyright challenges, filter bubbles, polarization and issues related to a decline of trust in public institutions. There is also a challenge that appeared in the political climate surrounding public libraries. The thesis' conclusion is that public libraries in Sweden, by including different discourses, creates an agonistic, interpretable field where different challenges can be met in their own conditions, without causing necessary conflict with the democratic mission. Here I propose media and information literacy, if carried out correctly, as the leading way forward. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Folkbiblioteken i Sverige har ett lagstadgat uppdrag att bidra till en stärkt demokrati genom kunskapsförmedling och fri åsiktsbildning. Uppdraget med att bidra till den fria åsiktsbildningen tolkas ofta som att biblioteken ska förhålla sig opartiska till sina användare och sina samlingar. Nya förhållanden i informationsklimatet har skapat nya utmaningar för den fria åsiktsbildningen, såsom desinformation och polarisering. Dessa utamningar kan påverka hur biblioteken utför sitt arbete.
Den här masteruppsatsen undersöker hur folkbibliotek förstår uppdraget med att bidra till fri åsiktsbildning och vilka utmaningar som de identifierar i det nuvarande informationsklimatet. Uppsatsen utforskar också en potentiell konflikt mellan de två... (More) - Folkbiblioteken i Sverige har ett lagstadgat uppdrag att bidra till en stärkt demokrati genom kunskapsförmedling och fri åsiktsbildning. Uppdraget med att bidra till den fria åsiktsbildningen tolkas ofta som att biblioteken ska förhålla sig opartiska till sina användare och sina samlingar. Nya förhållanden i informationsklimatet har skapat nya utmaningar för den fria åsiktsbildningen, såsom desinformation och polarisering. Dessa utamningar kan påverka hur biblioteken utför sitt arbete.
Den här masteruppsatsen undersöker hur folkbibliotek förstår uppdraget med att bidra till fri åsiktsbildning och vilka utmaningar som de identifierar i det nuvarande informationsklimatet. Uppsatsen utforskar också en potentiell konflikt mellan de två aspekterna av det demokratifrämjande uppdraget. Undersökningen görs genom en diskursanalys på fjorton styrdokument. Analysen baseras på Ernesto Laclau och Chantal Mouffes politiska diskursteori. Studien använder sig också av Chantal Mouffes teori om agonistisk pluralism i slutdiskussionen. Resultatet av visar att policydokumenten innehåller åtminstone fem olika diskursiva förståelser av bibliotekens uppdrag med att bidra till fri åsiktsbildning, och att biblioteken identifierar flera olika utmaningar mot detta uppdrag, såsom upphovsrättsliga utmaningar, filterbubblor, polarisering och en brist på tillit till offentliga institutioner. Det finns också en utmaning i det omgivande politiska klimatet. Uppsatsens slutsats är att folkbibliotek i Sverige, genom att involvera olika diskurser, skapar ett agonistiskt, tolkningsbart fält där olika utmaningar kan mötas utifrån sina egna förutsättningar. Här föreslår jag att medie- och informationskunnighet, om förmedlad på rätt sätt, blir ledande i arbetet framöver. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9050368
- author
- Pettersson, Linn LU
- supervisor
-
- Olof Sundin LU
- organization
- alternative title
- The paradoxal library : the public libraries and the free formation of opinion in an uncertain information climate
- course
- ABMM54 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Public libraries, Information, Disinformation, Fake news, Free speech, Democracy, Free opinion formation, Dissemination of knowledge, Media and information literacy
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9050368
- date added to LUP
- 2021-06-24 22:00:01
- date last changed
- 2021-06-24 22:00:01
@misc{9050368,
abstract = {{Public libraries in Sweden have a statutory task to contribute to a strengthened democracy through the dissemination of knowledge and the free formation of opinion. The latter is often understood as libraries being impartial to their users and collections. New conditions in the information climate have brought new challenges for the free formation of opinion, such as disinformation and polarization. This may also affect how the libraries conduct their work.
This master's thesis explores how public libraries understand the mission of free opinion formation and what challenges they identify in the current information climate. The essay also examines if there’s a potential conflict between the two aspects of the democratic mission. The survey is conducted through a discourse analysis of fourteen policy documents. The analysis is based on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's political discourse theory. The study also uses Chantal Mouffe's theory of agonistic pluralism in the discussion of the result.
The results show that the policy documents contain at least five different discursive understandings when it comes to the role of the library in supporting the free formation of opinion, and that there are several identified challenges in the current information climate which affect this role, including copyright challenges, filter bubbles, polarization and issues related to a decline of trust in public institutions. There is also a challenge that appeared in the political climate surrounding public libraries. The thesis' conclusion is that public libraries in Sweden, by including different discourses, creates an agonistic, interpretable field where different challenges can be met in their own conditions, without causing necessary conflict with the democratic mission. Here I propose media and information literacy, if carried out correctly, as the leading way forward.}},
author = {{Pettersson, Linn}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Det paradoxala biblioteket : folkbiblioteken och den fria åsiktsbildningen i ett osäkert informationsklimat}},
year = {{2021}},
}