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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Bildning och assimilering : En diskursanalys av sverigedemokratisk bibliotekspolitik

Janson, Line LU (2023) ABMM54 20231
Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how the increased
influence of the radical right party the Sweden democrats in Swedish politics may
change how the democratic role of the public libraries is understood. The research
questions asked are which discourses concerning cultural politics and library
politics that can be discerned in cultural policy statements from the Sweden
democrats, in what ways these discourses relate to the democratic role of the
libraries as traditionally understood in Sweden, and what significance the party’s
culture policy positioning can get for public library operations. The source material
are cultural policy documents from the party, as well as interviews with five local
politicians... (More)
The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how the increased
influence of the radical right party the Sweden democrats in Swedish politics may
change how the democratic role of the public libraries is understood. The research
questions asked are which discourses concerning cultural politics and library
politics that can be discerned in cultural policy statements from the Sweden
democrats, in what ways these discourses relate to the democratic role of the
libraries as traditionally understood in Sweden, and what significance the party’s
culture policy positioning can get for public library operations. The source material
are cultural policy documents from the party, as well as interviews with five local
politicians from the party, who are the board responsible for libraries in their
respective municipalities. The material is analyzed using discourse theory. I find
that in the politics of the Sweden democrats, the notion of culture is discursively
linked to the notion of the nation, and understood as one and the same, a national
culture. This national culture is portrayed as objective, and is in turn linked to
democracy, which is understood as an inherent part of the national culture. With
such an understanding, multi culture becomes a threat to the national culture and
thus a threat to democracy. The role of cultural institutions such as the library,
therefore, is to keep and protect cultural heritage as well as to work with
assimilation of outsiders into the national culture. Establishing a nationalist
discourse and claiming the voice of the people, the party creates a seemingly nonideological position from which to speak. This position also makes political
interference in everyday operations of libraries possible in a way that challenges
the arm’s length principle that is the norm of Nordic cultural politics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Janson, Line LU
supervisor
organization
course
ABMM54 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Library, Information, Culture, Politics, Democracy, Radical right, Populism, Nationalism, Bibliotek: Information: Sverigedemokraterna, Kultur, Demokrati, Kulturpolitik, Bibliotekspolitik, Radikalhöger
language
Swedish
id
9119313
date added to LUP
2023-06-20 13:40:09
date last changed
2023-06-20 13:40:09
@misc{9119313,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how the increased
influence of the radical right party the Sweden democrats in Swedish politics may
change how the democratic role of the public libraries is understood. The research
questions asked are which discourses concerning cultural politics and library
politics that can be discerned in cultural policy statements from the Sweden
democrats, in what ways these discourses relate to the democratic role of the
libraries as traditionally understood in Sweden, and what significance the party’s
culture policy positioning can get for public library operations. The source material
are cultural policy documents from the party, as well as interviews with five local
politicians from the party, who are the board responsible for libraries in their
respective municipalities. The material is analyzed using discourse theory. I find
that in the politics of the Sweden democrats, the notion of culture is discursively
linked to the notion of the nation, and understood as one and the same, a national
culture. This national culture is portrayed as objective, and is in turn linked to
democracy, which is understood as an inherent part of the national culture. With
such an understanding, multi culture becomes a threat to the national culture and
thus a threat to democracy. The role of cultural institutions such as the library,
therefore, is to keep and protect cultural heritage as well as to work with
assimilation of outsiders into the national culture. Establishing a nationalist
discourse and claiming the voice of the people, the party creates a seemingly nonideological position from which to speak. This position also makes political
interference in everyday operations of libraries possible in a way that challenges
the arm’s length principle that is the norm of Nordic cultural politics.}},
  author       = {{Janson, Line}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Bildning och assimilering : En diskursanalys av sverigedemokratisk bibliotekspolitik}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}