‘Pinkwashing’ or Protection? A Qualitative Analysis of the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ Policy
(2020) WPMM42 20201Sociology
School of Social Work
Department of Sociology
- Abstract
- Exploring the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ policy, the aim of the thesis is to analyse problems involved in implementing policies within the field of identity politics. The City of Copenhagen has formulated a policy addressing the conditions of LGBT+ people in Copenhagen. However, the implementation of an equalities policy can face problems, as structural discrimination by the wider society is deeply entrenched. The analysis is based on Sara Ahmed’s (2012) ‘non-performativity’, which is when actions are said to have been brought about, when in fact they haven’t. By analysing the LGBTI+ policy as well as conducting interviews based on non-performativity, the objective is to explore to what extent the policy provides the leeway for municipal... (More)
- Exploring the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ policy, the aim of the thesis is to analyse problems involved in implementing policies within the field of identity politics. The City of Copenhagen has formulated a policy addressing the conditions of LGBT+ people in Copenhagen. However, the implementation of an equalities policy can face problems, as structural discrimination by the wider society is deeply entrenched. The analysis is based on Sara Ahmed’s (2012) ‘non-performativity’, which is when actions are said to have been brought about, when in fact they haven’t. By analysing the LGBTI+ policy as well as conducting interviews based on non-performativity, the objective is to explore to what extent the policy provides the leeway for municipal workers’ discretion in implementation. Overall, the findings show that the likelihood of implementation depends greatly on how the policy initiatives are constructed and prioritised. However, the actions taken to strengthen the focus on LGBT+ at work were more a matter of ‘pressure from below’ than a result of the LGBTI+ policy. Thus, while the policy cannot be said to be fully non-performative, the policy and organisational culture contain elements which hinder meaningful implementation of the vision and goal. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to explore how the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ policy can increase the manoeuvre room for municipal workers in implementing the policy. It’s difficult for local governments to work with equality in a way that improves the conditions for people in society, due to how entrenched stereotypes and inequality is in society. Therefore, it’s important to analyse the policy. While the purpose and aim of the policy is admirable, that doesn’t mean the policy is actually implemented, or, if it is, that it brings about the intentions and actions it mentions. I have carried out this project by making a text analysis of the LBGTI+ policy combined with interviews of people working in the City of Copenhagen. The text analysis... (More)
- The purpose of this thesis is to explore how the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ policy can increase the manoeuvre room for municipal workers in implementing the policy. It’s difficult for local governments to work with equality in a way that improves the conditions for people in society, due to how entrenched stereotypes and inequality is in society. Therefore, it’s important to analyse the policy. While the purpose and aim of the policy is admirable, that doesn’t mean the policy is actually implemented, or, if it is, that it brings about the intentions and actions it mentions. I have carried out this project by making a text analysis of the LBGTI+ policy combined with interviews of people working in the City of Copenhagen. The text analysis and interviews were based on what Sara Ahmed (2012) has coined ‘non-performativity’. In short, this means that the promises of acting on a particular matter aren’t actually fulfilled, in spite of this seeming to be done. Because of this, I argue that the LGBTI+ policy in some aspects is non-performative, that it doesn’t bring about its promises, which in turn affects how municipal workers are able to work with it in praxis. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9020882
- author
- Bodekær Black, Maja LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- WPMM42 20201
- year
- 2020
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Non-performativity, LGBTQIA+, local government, Denmark, equalities work, policy
- language
- English
- id
- 9020882
- date added to LUP
- 2020-06-22 13:50:00
- date last changed
- 2020-06-22 13:50:00
@misc{9020882,
abstract = {{Exploring the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ policy, the aim of the thesis is to analyse problems involved in implementing policies within the field of identity politics. The City of Copenhagen has formulated a policy addressing the conditions of LGBT+ people in Copenhagen. However, the implementation of an equalities policy can face problems, as structural discrimination by the wider society is deeply entrenched. The analysis is based on Sara Ahmed’s (2012) ‘non-performativity’, which is when actions are said to have been brought about, when in fact they haven’t. By analysing the LGBTI+ policy as well as conducting interviews based on non-performativity, the objective is to explore to what extent the policy provides the leeway for municipal workers’ discretion in implementation. Overall, the findings show that the likelihood of implementation depends greatly on how the policy initiatives are constructed and prioritised. However, the actions taken to strengthen the focus on LGBT+ at work were more a matter of ‘pressure from below’ than a result of the LGBTI+ policy. Thus, while the policy cannot be said to be fully non-performative, the policy and organisational culture contain elements which hinder meaningful implementation of the vision and goal.}},
author = {{Bodekær Black, Maja}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{‘Pinkwashing’ or Protection? A Qualitative Analysis of the City of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ Policy}},
year = {{2020}},
}