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Att bevara och förändra: en diskurspsykologisk studie av jämställdhetssamtal på Malmö stadsbibliotek

Kristiansson, Cecilia and Stenberg, Peter (2006)
Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
Abstract
The aim of this master's thesis is to study how gender equity is discussed and worked with at a Swedish public library, and what potential consequences these discussions will bring. By analysing different types of documents and interviews with library staff using discourse psychological theories and methods we show that two dominating discourses coexist and determine the direction of how gender equity is discussed. These discourses are argued to create and uphold gender and gender roles within the organisation as well as in society at large.

In our study we find that one of the identified discourses has, as one of its consequences, that it preserves and regenerates traditional gender roles. This discourse is mainly used when discussing... (More)
The aim of this master's thesis is to study how gender equity is discussed and worked with at a Swedish public library, and what potential consequences these discussions will bring. By analysing different types of documents and interviews with library staff using discourse psychological theories and methods we show that two dominating discourses coexist and determine the direction of how gender equity is discussed. These discourses are argued to create and uphold gender and gender roles within the organisation as well as in society at large.

In our study we find that one of the identified discourses has, as one of its consequences, that it preserves and regenerates traditional gender roles. This discourse is mainly used when discussing personnel policies and when recruiting. We call this the discourse of gender role preservation.

The second discourse is mainly seen when discussing the public dimension of the library's functions. This discourse focuses on transforming gender roles and making the library a gender neutral workplace. Within this discourse the gender equity work at the library is believed to have positive effects in the society that surrounds it, leading to greater gender equity at large, in that traditional gender roles are challenged e.g. through how the collections are organized. We call this the discourse of gender role transformation.

At Malmö city library the latter dominates the equity discussions mainly because the gender equity work analysed is mostly concerned with the library and it's relation to its users. However, both discourses are used, only for slightly different purposes. (Less)
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author
Kristiansson, Cecilia and Stenberg, Peter
supervisor
organization
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
jämställdhet, jämställdhetsarbete, diskurspsykologi, diskursanalys, kön, könsroll, genus, folkbibliotek, Malmö, Humanities, Humaniora, Social sciences, Samhällsvetenskaper
language
Swedish
id
1329980
date added to LUP
2006-11-28 00:00:00
date last changed
2014-04-11 14:16:51
@misc{1329980,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this master's thesis is to study how gender equity is discussed and worked with at a Swedish public library, and what potential consequences these discussions will bring. By analysing different types of documents and interviews with library staff using discourse psychological theories and methods we show that two dominating discourses coexist and determine the direction of how gender equity is discussed. These discourses are argued to create and uphold gender and gender roles within the organisation as well as in society at large.

In our study we find that one of the identified discourses has, as one of its consequences, that it preserves and regenerates traditional gender roles. This discourse is mainly used when discussing personnel policies and when recruiting. We call this the discourse of gender role preservation.

The second discourse is mainly seen when discussing the public dimension of the library's functions. This discourse focuses on transforming gender roles and making the library a gender neutral workplace. Within this discourse the gender equity work at the library is believed to have positive effects in the society that surrounds it, leading to greater gender equity at large, in that traditional gender roles are challenged e.g. through how the collections are organized. We call this the discourse of gender role transformation.

At Malmö city library the latter dominates the equity discussions mainly because the gender equity work analysed is mostly concerned with the library and it's relation to its users. However, both discourses are used, only for slightly different purposes.}},
  author       = {{Kristiansson, Cecilia and Stenberg, Peter}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Att bevara och förändra: en diskurspsykologisk studie av jämställdhetssamtal på Malmö stadsbibliotek}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}