Ideological struggle over epistemic and political positions in news discourse on migrant activism in Sweden

ABSTRACT

The specific aim of this study is to investigate how a group of migrant rights activists in Sweden are positioned in news discourse. The more general aim of this study is to understand the conditions under which activists participate within news discourse. Through a critical discourse analytical (CDA) framework, with specific focus on the use of epistemic and dynamic modalities in the presentation of activists’ statements, the analysis shows what kinds of knowledge claims can be constructed and from what discursive position. Furthermore, the analysis shows what kind of political claims the activists can make. The activists are positioned as ‘dreamers’ in relation to political possibilities and as ‘experiencing individuals’ in relation to knowledge claims. The main conclusion of the article is that journalistic discourse has inherent ideological resources to include activist voices: at the same time, it is able to exclude the political relevance of activism.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical discourse analysis
• the political
• migrant activism
• news discourse
• journalistic ideology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Gustav Persson is a Ph.D. candidate in Media and Communication at the University of Gothenburg. His dissertation project deals with the relationship between Media discourse and political activism. Department of Journalism Media and Communication, Seminariegatan 1 b, SE-40530 Gothenburg, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]

Notes

1. For an explanation of Almedalen, see contextualization section.