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Folkmyndighetens språkbruk under Covid-19

Trawén, Linnea LU (2023) SOCK07 20231
Sociology
Abstract
The study will deal with the strategies used by the Swedish government and the Public Health Agency (FHM) to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Initially, the risk of general transmission was considered low and the strategy was to flatten the curve. However, the Swedish approach was criticized for being unclear and not imposing strict restrictions, while others hailed it as an exemplary model for a strong public health policy. During covid, FHM has used an authoritarian tone in its communication to emphasize the importance of following the recommendations and restrictions that existed during the period. The Swedish authorities' expertise has been used to legitimize restrictions and encourage people to comply. Among other things,... (More)
The study will deal with the strategies used by the Swedish government and the Public Health Agency (FHM) to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Initially, the risk of general transmission was considered low and the strategy was to flatten the curve. However, the Swedish approach was criticized for being unclear and not imposing strict restrictions, while others hailed it as an exemplary model for a strong public health policy. During covid, FHM has used an authoritarian tone in its communication to emphasize the importance of following the recommendations and restrictions that existed during the period. The Swedish authorities' expertise has been used to legitimize restrictions and encourage people to comply. Among other things, their purpose has been to give the authority the authority and confidence that was needed, while the public has then felt compelled to follow the measures and advice that the authority has introduced. The language used by the authorities was tailored to convince people to follow the recommended measures, including social distancing, and to take the vaccine.
FHM has also used the language to present itself as experts who can answer the questions the public has and then also be able to demonstrate their expertise through, for example, numbers, statistics and scientific research. In this way, FHM has mobilized the use of language as a discourse of power to give the authority support and legitimacy to introduce measures such as limited freedom of movement, visiting bans on nursing homes, etc. By emphasizing the importance of acting quickly but also following the recommendations given, this in order to gain credibility and legitimacy. To justify their advice, they have referred to various research studies and facts based on research, science and on trust in the knowledge of experts. (Giddens:1996:87) FHM referred, among other things, to the central legislation on the Infection Prevention Act (2004:72) where everyone must contribute to preventing infection, where the Swedish strategy was simply predetermined by the 2004 law. (Wenander 2021) In this way, the authority tries to get the public to take the pandemic seriously and take measures to protect themselves, so the authority a form of dependence on the public where they have then had power and knowledge over the population.

The study's theoretical frame of reference is based on Michel Foucault's theory of critical discourse analysis, as well as Anthony Gidden's concepts of framing and expert systems. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Studien kommer att behandla den språkliga diskurs och strategier som användes av den
svenska regeringen och Folkhälsomyndigheten (FHM) för att kontrollera spridningen av
Covid-19-viruset. Till en början ansågs infektionsrisken vara låg och strategin var att platta
till kurvan. Det svenska synsättet kritiserades dock för att vara otydligt, medan andra hyllade
det som en föredömlig modell för en stark folkhälsopolitik. Under covid har FHM använt en
auktoritär ton i sin kommunikation för att betona vikten av att följa de rekommendationer och
restriktioner som funnits under perioden. FHM har använt språket för att framställa sig som
experter som kan svara på de frågor allmänheten har och då även kunna visa sin expertis
genom... (More)
Studien kommer att behandla den språkliga diskurs och strategier som användes av den
svenska regeringen och Folkhälsomyndigheten (FHM) för att kontrollera spridningen av
Covid-19-viruset. Till en början ansågs infektionsrisken vara låg och strategin var att platta
till kurvan. Det svenska synsättet kritiserades dock för att vara otydligt, medan andra hyllade
det som en föredömlig modell för en stark folkhälsopolitik. Under covid har FHM använt en
auktoritär ton i sin kommunikation för att betona vikten av att följa de rekommendationer och
restriktioner som funnits under perioden. FHM har använt språket för att framställa sig som
experter som kan svara på de frågor allmänheten har och då även kunna visa sin expertis
genom att hänvisa till siffror, statistik och vetenskaplig forskning. Det språk som
myndigheterna använde var skräddarsytt för att övertyga människor att följa de
rekommenderade åtgärderna, inklusive social distansering och vaccination. På så sätt har
FHM mobiliserat språkbruket som maktdiskurs för att ge myndigheten stöd och legitimitet att
införa åtgärder som begränsad rörelsefrihet, besöksförbud på äldreboenden etcetera. Genom
att betona vikten av att agera snabbt men också följa de rekommendationer som ges, detta för
att få trovärdighet och legitimitet. Med det försöker myndigheten få allmänheten att ta
pandemin på allvar men också motivera dem att vidta åtgärder för att skydda sig som att hålla
avstånd, tvätta händerna och vaccinera där myndigheten har en form av beroende av
allmänheten, där de då har haft makt och kunskap om befolkningen.
De svenska myndigheternas expertis har använts för att legitimera restriktioner och
uppmuntrar människor att följa dessa. Deras syfte har bland annat varit att ge myndigheten
den befogenhet och det förtroende som behövts, samtidigt som allmänheten då har känt sig
tvungen att följa de åtgärder och råd som myndigheten har infört. För att motivera sina råd
har de hänvisat till olika forskningsstudier och fakta baserade på forskning, vetenskap och på
tilltro till experters kunskap (Giddens 1996 s 88). FHM hänvisade bland annat till den
centrala lagstiftningen om smittskyddslagen 2004:72, där alla ska bidra till att förebygga
smitta där den svenska strategin helt enkelt var förutbestämd i 2004 års lag (Welander 2021).
Studiens teoretiska referensram är baserad på Michel Foucaults teori om kritisk
diskursanalys, samt Anthony Giddens begrepp om inramning och expertsystem (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Trawén, Linnea LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Fallstudie hur Folkhälsomyndigheten framställde risker och motiverade sina val
course
SOCK07 20231
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Covid-19, SARS- Cov 2, kommunikation, corona, Folkhälsomyndigheten, inramning och motivering, regering, språkbruk, mobilariering, risker, rättfärdigande, pandemi, virus
language
Swedish
id
9127944
date added to LUP
2023-06-27 14:15:06
date last changed
2023-06-27 14:15:06
@misc{9127944,
  abstract     = {{The study will deal with the strategies used by the Swedish government and the Public Health Agency (FHM) to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Initially, the risk of general transmission was considered low and the strategy was to flatten the curve. However, the Swedish approach was criticized for being unclear and not imposing strict restrictions, while others hailed it as an exemplary model for a strong public health policy. During covid, FHM has used an authoritarian tone in its communication to emphasize the importance of following the recommendations and restrictions that existed during the period. The Swedish authorities' expertise has been used to legitimize restrictions and encourage people to comply. Among other things, their purpose has been to give the authority the authority and confidence that was needed, while the public has then felt compelled to follow the measures and advice that the authority has introduced. The language used by the authorities was tailored to convince people to follow the recommended measures, including social distancing, and to take the vaccine.
FHM has also used the language to present itself as experts who can answer the questions the public has and then also be able to demonstrate their expertise through, for example, numbers, statistics and scientific research. In this way, FHM has mobilized the use of language as a discourse of power to give the authority support and legitimacy to introduce measures such as limited freedom of movement, visiting bans on nursing homes, etc. By emphasizing the importance of acting quickly but also following the recommendations given, this in order to gain credibility and legitimacy. To justify their advice, they have referred to various research studies and facts based on research, science and on trust in the knowledge of experts. (Giddens:1996:87) FHM referred, among other things, to the central legislation on the Infection Prevention Act (2004:72) where everyone must contribute to preventing infection, where the Swedish strategy was simply predetermined by the 2004 law. (Wenander 2021) In this way, the authority tries to get the public to take the pandemic seriously and take measures to protect themselves, so the authority a form of dependence on the public where they have then had power and knowledge over the population.

The study's theoretical frame of reference is based on Michel Foucault's theory of critical discourse analysis, as well as Anthony Gidden's concepts of framing and expert systems.}},
  author       = {{Trawén, Linnea}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Folkmyndighetens språkbruk under Covid-19}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}