Masteruppsatser / Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper

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“A ROOM FOR OUR OWN”. Queer memories and feelings in the archival practices of Queerrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek (Archive and Library of the Queer Movement) in Gothenburg/Sweden
(2019-07-08) Borges Freitas, Camila; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This thesis departs from the case study of the Queerrörelsens Arkiv och Bibliotek (QRAB) [In English: Archive and Library of the Queer Movement], located in Gothenburg/Sweden, to discuss how queer memories and feelings are embedded in queer archives. It focuses in some of QRAB’s practices, such as: the structure and organization of the archive, the membership, the processes of collection and cataloguing of materials, the external activities, and the relationship with the public and other organizations. From the analysis of these practices, the thesis proposes a theoretical discussion about memory, silence and remembrance, inspired by the literature that has been produced in the last two decades about queer archives. The thesis also addresses the issue of archives in a broader perspective, proposing a reflection about the role of memory and memory institutions in society, such as their influence in knowledge production, community-building and activism. The analysis also focuses on how memories, knowledge and narratives about queer people, cultures and movements are produced within queer archives and how different temporalities are intertwined in those places and projects. Besides, it offers an interpretation on how these archival practices express resistance against dominant and normative discourses.
An Ace Theory of Relationships: Asexuality and Narratives of Relationship Norms
(2022-10-17) Olsson, Limes; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
Asexuality studies is an emergent transdisciplinary field with many gaps to fill. This thesis aims to address asexual individuals’ own stories and perspectives on relationships and the norms that surround them. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and the theory of queer phenomenology the thesis sets out to give space to often overlooked and underrepresented points of view. The material gives rise to two main themes, that of an asexual perspective on norms, as well as that of language, both as a tool for resistance and self-identification, but also as something that creates uncomfortable restraints.
Algorithmic Injustice: Predictive Policing and Profiling in the Netherlands – the Top600 and Top400 approaches
(2024-06-19) Anastasio, Carloruggero; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This thesis is located within the emerging intersections between feminist critique and algorithmic injustice, with a specific focus on predictive policing. By employing feminist theoretical perspectives on governmentality, the non-neutrality of science and statistics, phenomenology and structural injustice, it problematizes Top600 and Top400 (AKA Veilig Alternatief), two algorithmic tools that Amsterdam police and institutions use for the identification and risk assessment of potential perpetrators and repeat offenders of high impact crimes. These tools are marked by a known over-representation of Dutch-Moroccan men and minors, with a lower socio-economic status, mild-to-borderline intellectual disabilities, and from segregated neighbourhoods. Through a reading, inspired by critical law studies, of the official regulations of personal data usage by Top600 and Top400, and through a review of literature concerning them, the thesis problematizes the gap between their promised and factual outcomes, questioning the fairness of their targeting. It asks what practices and structures specific to algorithmic usage and policing are involved and potentially aggravating, how the relations between the tools and human actors are articulated and what biases and distortions they entail. The thesis concludes with considerations about the legal frameworks in which they function, especially in light of the new AI Act in the EU.
ALGORITMISK INTERVENTION Om kulturarbetares arbete med Instagram
(2019-10-10) Gustavsson, Linn; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
The topic of this study is the introduction of social networking sites as an arena for personal advertising in the culture industries. Through a case study on cultural workers’ digital labour on Instagram, the study examines the ways in which a social networking site such as Instagram disciplines its users with regard to labour time as well as cultural production. The empirical data consist of interviews with cultural workers who use Instagram as a platform for personal marketing. A Marxist framework is applied to interpret the labour that cultural workers carry out in order to become visible on Instagram. In addition to this, the study uses the concept of discipline, interpreting the technical infrastructure of Instagram as a disciplinary technique. The study shows that cultural workers are compelled to continuously spend time networking and monitoring their personal brands on Instagram in order to optimize visibility and thereby increase their job opportunities. The technical infrastructure of Instagram disciplines its users to construct a publicizable persona, to network affectively and to create a personal niche. Furthermore, the study shows that Instagram dictates when and how a user should interact on the platform in order to maximize visibility. For the cultural worker, these tasks account for longer working days while at the same time being uncompensated labour. With regard to cultural production, the study shows that the technical infrastructure of Instagram aggravates critical cultural production. This is due to the way this technical infrastructure rewards content which is in line with Instagram’s goals. The results also show a difference in attitude towards this labour in men and women. Where women embrace the narrative of using Instagram as vehicle for marketing, men resist this label to a higher degree.
ALLYSHIP AMONG COMMUNITIES Narratives from the Queer Community and the Roller Derby Community
(2018-06-20) Skoglund, Sofia; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This thesis investigated narratives of allyship within and between the queer community and the roller derby community. The thesis is an ethnographic interview study and through six interviews with people of the communities it studied how the interview participants understand the concept of allyship and what it means to be an ally for them. Furthermore, the thesis discuss how the interview participants do allyship within and between the communities they move within. Inspired by Ahlstedt (2016) the thesis circulate around narratives and uses a narrative analysis. I conclude that allyship means to stand united and come together; to listen, relearn and support. Furthermore I understand that the interview participants interpret being an ally as understanding one’s position from an intersectional perspective. From their ‘I’ and their own alliance, they ally with others. Vulnerability is a center concept in the discussion of how they do allyship. The creation of ‘us’ and a ‘we’ is another theme that shows how the allyship is done. Political values and statements are ways of creating alliances, political ‘we’ are constructed by delimitation to ‘they’. By making statements and putting themselves on the political map, political alliances within and between the communities are constructed.
Ärkeängeln Mikael: En historiografisk undersökning av svensk medeltida träskulptur
(2018-11-12) Groth, Jill; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This essay is an investigation of medieval woodsculptures picturing S.t Michael from 1200-1275, today preserved in Swedish churches and museums. No uniform research have been made of solely the archangel Michael as a medieval cultimage before. The backgrounds of early medieval christian beliefs and practical use of the cultimage and how the Michael-cult spread from Byzantium through England to Scandinavia frame a context. Furthermore the research contains an analysis of how earlier Swedish arthistorians examined and categorized the sculptures. Their results still remain as descriptions of medieval woodsculpture at Statens historiska museum. The questions of improbable dating as well as origin of the sculptures set in the early twentieth century, becomes visible. The study applies a historiographic theory and method together with iconographic and style analysis, which consequently illustrate the problematic conditions that occur when history is not challenged and inaccuracies are repeated as if they were truths.
Atmosfärsskapande bildstrategier i Zaras e-handel
(2022-03-16) Berg, Agneta; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
Fokus för denna uppsats är att studera hur Zara arbetar i sin svenska e-handel för att skapa atmosfär och upplevelse av materialitet genom bild för att väcka emotionellt engagemang. Mitt metodiska ramverk består av två delar, där en tar avstamp i en fenomenologisk utgångspunkt och den andra delen är kompositionsanalys. Gernot Böhmes och Rachel Hanns begrepp atmosfär, assemblage, othering samt worlding bygger den första delens struktur. I den andra är Gunther Kress och Theo van Leeuwens ideationella, interpersonella och textuella metafunktioner min struktur. Jag konstaterar i min studie att Zara använder sig av normbrytande och världsskapande interventioner som speglar mina minnen och kroppsliga normer, något som gör förutsättning för att affektiv atmosfär skall förankras och att haptisk visualitet infinner sig.
ATT BILDA I MOTVIND. Vad som står på spel för studieförbunden i Göteborg på grund av nedskärningarna
(2025-09-23) Ljungberg, Linnea; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This thesis explores what is at stake for the study associations, popular adult education, and ultimately democracy, due to funding cuts, according to the study associations’ branches in Gothenburg. The thesis investigates this by analyzing their reactions to the changes brought about by the cuts in government funding between 2024 and 2026. The study is guided by three research questions, which were answered through eight interviews with nine informants from the study associations’ branches in Gothenburg. The interview material was analyzed using a qualitative content analysis grounded in three theoretical entry points: popular adult education as a counter-hegemonic practice, spatial aspects of democracy, and shaping hope rather than wishful thinking. The results of the analysis are that the study associations’ work for social change is more indirect than direct, and to some extent they form a counter-hegemonic practice against the funding cuts. They see themselves as part of the public space in Gothenburg and argue that the funding cuts make it difficult for the study associations to be visible and take up space in the city. They primarily respond to the funding cuts with an active hope and they strive to adopt a constructive hope that blends optimism and pessimism, which also allows them some time for dealing with emotions. In the concluding discussion, the thesis argues that the study associations, popular adult education and, in the long run, democracy, are gradually being diminished due to the funding cuts undermining the work of the study associations. It also concludes that the relationship between the study associations and the state has become more unstable, and that the significance of popular adult education is being debated and renegotiated in light of the consequences of these funding cuts.
Att leva på musiken
(2017-06-27) Rudvall, Peter; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This master thesis is a study of actors bound to independent record labels in Gothenburg during the early 2000s. The aim is to study how these actors use the social room to organize, and how these individuals relate to profitability. The main material consists of semi structured interviews with nine informants, all based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Initially I examine how the actors argue when answering questions relating to upbringing and music interest. In the following chapter I analyze how to create a social room based on music, while the closing chapter is based on how these actors handle the combination of occupational and leisure time. In order to analyze my material I have used Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network-Theory and valuable terms, such as blackboxing, translation and inscription. Even Pierre Bourdieu and his theoretical framework, in particular the terms field, capital and habitus, have been of great importance. Lars Kaijser and Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius concept of affective alliances have also been valuable in the development of this thesis. 80 The independent record labels and the network around them have been shown to consist of a variety of actors, all of whom are somehow important for the record labels’ existence. It has come to my knowledge that the informants often use a predetermined view of what should be included in the story of an individual who identifies him or herself as a person with a high interest in music. The music is often described as autonomus, and family members and material things, such as records, are high-lighted as important actors in the creation of a music interest. Being a person who identifies him- or herself as a part of the music field, may therefore mean that the individual uses material things in the explanation of lifestyle. All of the nine informants are active in Gothenburg. I have analyzed how they orientate themselves in the city with aim of creating the community. In general none of the individuals seem to perceive any competition when it comes to being active in the music scene of Gothenburg, which probably indicates that these people are already established and part of the network. Their positions show a certain type of capital and habitus necessary for taking a position within the community. It also shows that the informants have taken a position that allows them to choose which, and what, to accept as an actor in the network. The thesis is rounded off with an analysis of artistry and profit. I will show, among other things, a difference between the business field and the artistic field, where in the latter there is an idea that art and profitability cannot be combined. The chapter also revolves around the physical product, especially the vinyl record, which is seen as an obvious actor in the network, although records generally do not generate any financial gain. Finally, the thesis focuses on the informants work situation, where they often use the concept of freedom to explain their career choices. Terminating their activities in order to increase financial compensation by other means, does not seem to be an option for the informants, which could possibly be explained by the stable positions they have taken in the network.
ATT MÅLA TILL VARJE PRIS - Annemirl Bauers konstnärskap i 1980-talets DDR
(2015-11-12) Svedbäck, Kerstin; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This thesis explores the life and work of a female artist in the GDR in the 1980s. Annemirl Bauer was born 1939 and got her Art education in the GDR. The special circumstances for artists in the socialist republic are described in order to show Bauer´s conditions. A firm believer in the socialist system of the socialistic republic, she was anxious to participate, she did so by written protests sent to the board of the VBK, the professional association for artists. That rendered her harassment from the Ministry of State Security, which severely restrained her in her artistry. My study shows how Bauer´s political and feminist statements were a crucial element in her paintings and drawings. Bauer was made aware of the mechanisms of a gender hierarchy from Western Europe. She is parodying the psychoanalytic theory of penis envy. She uses ancient myths like other contemporary GDR artists did but not in order to hide her criticism against society. Using a semiotic method, I analyse three of her pictures more thoroughly, both visual and verbal elements titles and texts in them as well, I partly reveal hidden messages. The causes of her marginalisation is explored: Being a woman, being a dissident. Bauer died in 1989 a few months before the Wall came down. In Germany after 1990, there are a limited number of publications about Annemirl Bauer. Little has been written about Art in the GDR in the English-speaking world and almost nothing in Sweden.
Att närma film Heideggers senare tänkande och poetisk film
(2020-11-11) Trifoi, Andrei; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
The aim of this master’s thesis is to mediate a thinking between film and Martin Heidegger’s later (post-)philosophical writings. This period, although not easily pinpointed in term of an inception date, has been characterized as the Turn [die Kehre] and implies Heidegger’s critical rethinking of systematic philosophy and his earlier fundamental ontological position. By examining his thoughts on poetry, art and the Being-question I am trying to locate a place for the poetic film. I argue that the poetic film, unlike any particular style of film, can’t be conceptually bracketed and therefore also refuses application to any specific theory and method. In this regard my intention is more evocative than demonstrative, or for that matter critical; by following Heidegger thoughts on the appropriating event [Ereignis], his writings on human dwelling and dwellings vicinity to the Fourfold I read through particular films that seem to evoke the mythical poetic spirit that characterizes Heidegger’s later thinking: The Turin Horse (2011), Dog Star Man (1961-1964) and Stalker (1979) are just some of the films that appear on this road, but their appearance is also a hiding meaning that they appropriate the nature of truth by way of the Greek term a-lethia, signifying a concealed-unconcealement. These films stand apart from what can be characterized as experimental cinema in that the later is focused on the technical while the former are more akin to the essential mystery of language – which is also why language has a precedence in this thesis – a mystery that speaks the thinging of the thing and the worlding of world. I argue therefore that particular films can point, essentially as a hinting, to the appropriating event that is the coming to be of the world in the word. They allow a dwelling place when dwelling is thought as the particular stay that defines man’s being in the Fourfold; on the earth, beneath the sky, before the divinities, as mortals.
ATT VARA VERKLIGHETENS TOLK - Estetik, politik och gestaltningen i dokumentär scenkonst
(2021-11-17) Arlid, Johnna; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
The 2013 Culture Programme for Gothenburg City together with Sweden’s national cultural policy objectives shows grand expectations on art and culture to contribute to growth, social progress, and democracy. Simultaneously, arts intrinsic value is highlighted in these objectives, a value also discussed to a great extent in contemporary debate on culture. One area where these dilemmas appear extra clearly is in the performing arts. Recent decades have seen an increase in documentary forms of expression, in media, TV and podcast as well as in arts, an increase that has been obvious also in Swedish performing arts where several of the most praised works in the 2000’s are more or less based on documentary material. This study, based in critical culture studies, investigates the part Swedish documentary performing arts wishes to play, and how this ambition is discussed in the media. Through qualitative interviews with creators of performing arts and studies of media texts dealing with documentary theatre some dominant incentives are manifested, where aspects as the appeal of the exploring modus operandi, the engaging identification with the authentic shape, and the implicit political function of the documentary are addressed. The result shows several contradictions and dilemmas concerning the value of art, among these a prevailing idea of art losing its purpose if given a predetermined agenda whilst creators of performing arts still explicitly wishes to contribute to a diverse public conversation. Furthermore, the result shows that Swedish documentary performing arts can be related to the agonistic model of democracy in its attempt to form a place for different political opinions to meet in public conversation, but also limitations to this attempt in the form of the confusion of radical form and radical content, and a limited reach in trying to reach wider audiences. In addition, the study points towards viable solutions to these dilemmas, solutions that suggests a critical and democratic art that heighten a conflictual consensus.
Att värna demokratin. Kommunala tjänstepersoners konstruktioner av demokrati, rättigheter och medborgarskap i det kommunala arbetet med återvändare och islamistisk våldsbejakande extremism
(2019-03-21) Lebedinski Arfvidson, Clara; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
This thesis investigates how the problem with so called returnees (återvändare) and violent extremism (våldsbejakande extremism) is constructed in the municipal work with and against the same in Sweden, using Carol Bacchi’s and Susan Goodwin’s Foucaultdian approach to policy analysis – the so-called “what’s the problem represented to be?” approach – as its primary method. The purpose is to explore how Swedish ideas of democracy are formed, strengthened and challenged, and what effects this may have on notions of citizenship and human rights. Sara Ahmed’s concept of emotional economies (2014), Judith Butler’s concept of grievable lives (2016), and Jasbir K. Puar’s understandings of affective politics (2007) serve as central analytical tools. The main material used in this study is interview transcriptions from interviews with seven civil servants working with violent extremism in different ways. In order to put their testimonies in context, texts originating from Swedish newspapers and public service has been included in the analysis, such as commentaries, newspaper columns, contributions to public debate and news articles, as well as documentation and instructions from the former National Coordinator against Violent Extremism (Nationella Samordnaren mot Våldsbejakande Extremism). The analysis shows that the problem of violent extremism is constructed with a normative understanding of democracy, which affects which individuals are deemed “inside” or “outside” the borders of democracy, and which individuals uphold the “right” principles of democracy. The problem representation is fixed on certain individuals who the civil servants have found it difficult to locate in their work, since the problem is constructed through security policy incompatible with the public duty (defined by law) of the municipalities. The civil servants suffer from hateful and violent reactions to their work, since there is little understanding of the legal basis of their social support function in public discourse. The social support function of their work is deemed “naieve” and “amateurish” by the media. Thus the municipalities are constructed as a problem in the struggle against violent extremism, since they provide for individuals deemed to be extremists. The problem representation has consequences for how citizenship and human rights are represented in public discourse: I propose that this can be understood through Judith Butlers theory of dehumanisation, in which she argues some categories of human beings are seen as outside the frame of the human, and thus are viewed as “spoils of war” and not as girevable lives (Butler 2004:143).
BASED, REDPILLED, AND FPBP. Examining identification through discursive/affective practices on 4chan/pol/
(2022-02-08) Bergius, Henrik; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
In a political landscape increasingly more influenced by far-right populism, the potential for political projects aiming to expand democracy is challenged. With the internet becoming an important arena for political discussion, this begs the question of how online spaces function as politically radicalizing. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the production of radicalization through discursive/affective practices and processes on the internet forum 4chan/pol/. I combine perspectives on website function and design with analysis of the discursive/affective practices’ forms and construction of meaning. The 4chan forum has since 2016 become known as a hotspot for far-right discourses. In this thesis, the forum is studied using online ethnography and analysed in a combination of researcher as informant and a discursive/affective framework based on Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. I highlight a dialectic between disciplining and desire within the discursive/affective practices. This dialectic construct forms of identification through memetic vernacular and anonymous hate-speech inscribed in fascist discourses, resulting in the construction of an in-group. By meshing together online cultural practices and fascist discourse, the forum users’ desire to be part of the forum requires adoption of fascist identity, which produces radicalization.
Berättelser från en vandringsled - Om upplevelser av kulturarvet Camino Français
(2014-06-16) Hjelt, Pernilla; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
In my master thesis Stories from a Walking Trail, about the Experiences of the Cultural Heritage Camino Français I describe and analyze oral and written stories about the pilgrimage along Camino Français. I ask what can be revealed in these stories and in what way the pilgrim hikers relate to the time before, during and after their journey. I discuss what function these stories can be said to have in individual and collective identity and cultural heritage processes. One theoretic perspective that I use is about the function of narratives and stories in peoples reconstructions of memories and forming of identities. I have also chosen phenomenological perspectives in which body, situation and environment, consciousness and absence will be important components. A third theoretic perspective focuses on the meeting between cultural heritage, memory and identity. The written stories that I analyse in this thesis are self-biographical travel books, which have either been published as paper books or as Bloggs on the Internet while the oral stories are interviews and observation material that I have conducted. The stories reveal how a dialogue between becoming hikers and stories about the pilgrimage along Camino Français gives the becoming hikers the ability to assimilate a cultural identity and a time space environment so that they, according to their preconditions, can prepare themselves for a personal walking experience. The hikers relation to time on the path are linked to how the body impacts on the meeting between their intentions to do a pilgrimage and the situations and environments that is the walking. Meaningful situations are revealed through descriptions of the hikers meetings with the paths different environments and time changes when the hikers identify themselves with the trails contemporary and historical sites. A social world is also revealed through the storytellers descriptions of what collectively can be said to be pilgrim-cultural narratives which gives the hikers a framework to relate to on the trail. The hikers can be said to share a collective memory, as they share the experience of walking on Camino Français, which do not mean that they bring the same experiences back home. The stories of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela can be seen as an immaterial cultural heritage that passes on a cultural hiker identity. The criticism on society comes to life in the hiker identity and simultaneously this is a part of modernity. The stories can be said to give people an opportunity to choose their identity, but the choice can at the same time be seen as an illusion while other forces than the individual often determine which stories gets to be available for people to identify them self with. Several aspects of the aim that The European Institute of Cultural Routs emphasizes can be seen in the stories while other aspects, like those who speaks of a greater understanding of European history, like the Muslim parts of history, only can be seen peripherally. The stories reveal that the walk along Camino Françis both can be a part of modernity identity norms and a life changing experience in peoples lives.
Bodies out/in Place? Unmapping Trans People’s Experience in Outdoor Activities
(2019-08-26) Bloem Herraiz, Bart; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
Scrutiny over trans people's bodies in urban contexts is continuous. This thesis develops the idea that the outdoors offers a less-gendered space for trans people, enabling and empowering them to escape self-surveillance processes and to feel freer in their gender expression/identity. I believe that spaces of resistance can be build in the wilderness, and that specific experiences are happening in it for trans people. Moreover, outdoor experiences help trans people build resilience to overcome the gender-related issues that may happen in the cities. In addition, doing outdoor activities empowers us, trans people, in our bodies. However, these experiences have not been given much attention in scholarly literature. Taking into account the fluidity and dynamism of out life experiences, I combined the use of autoethnography with semi-structured-in-depth interviews conducted with five trans people, then put these experiences in conversation with the theories. Nature was described as a less judgmental space, and a place where it is possible to be ourselves. It was also portrayed as a place to escape the urban context´s gender normativities, which, I argue, are damaging us. The outdoors is also a safe space for trans people and unmapping these counter-geographies is aiming to claim our space in it.
BODY NORMATIVITY AND THE HYPER(IN)VISIBILITY OF ABJECT BODIES Living with Oppression in the Body Liberation Movement
(2023-04-06) Binder, Kristin; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
In feminist studies that attempt to theorize embodiment, fat bodies have largely been ignored and excluded from research even though scientific knowledge on weight-based stigma and discrimination shows the importance of studying fatphobia as a system of oppression. Hence, this thesis provides an analysis on the lived experience of fat bodies in relation to body normativity and visibility politics. Additionally, it builds bridges to other abject bodies marginalized within gender studies, such as trans people and people with disabilities, to support shared struggles for radical social justice. Concerning the theoretical framework, the concept of intersectionality and theorization on body and beauty norms as well as abjection and ugliness are put forward. In addition, an Foucauldian understanding of power and visibility and Gailey’s concept of hyper(in)visibility are employed. The methodology of the thesis is based on Haraway’s concept of situated knowledge, complemented by Spivak’s postcolonial approach and Baril’s composite model of disability. The empirical material consists of a range of secondary sources extracted from the body liberation movement such as Instagram and blog posts, activist book chapters and YouTube videos. Using Braun and Clarke’s method of reflexive thematic analysis, four main themes with respective subthemes are generated and discussed: 1) knowledge production on power structures, 2) mental health is health, 3) fat resistance and 4) solidarity and allyship. Lastly, the concepts of ambivalence, ordinariness and ugliness are argued for as supplementary strategies within fat politics. In summary, struggling against the hyper(in)visibility of abject bodies is concluded to be a collective task and for it to succeed, people need to work on themselves individually, in community and across coalitions.
Bygga gammalt på nytt. Staden arkitekturen och ett uppror på nätet.
(2017-10-05) Moreau, Lovis; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
Collective Subjectivity in Feminist Activism Against Femicide in Turkey. Collective Subjectivity as an Intersectional Strategy in the Struggle Against Femicide in Turkey
(2019-07-01) Altuntaş, Deniz; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
In Turkey, the data and legal regulations regarding femicide are inadequate. This research suggests that struggle against femicide which adopts an intersectional approach mobilizes women of different identities and backgrounds. This study aims to examine how collective subjectivity of the activists against femicide can be constituted among women who have different identities and experiences. I use feminist methodology to grasp the collective subjectivity of this struggle in Turkey. My position as an “outsider within” -a woman, a researcher, an activist, and an NGO volunteer who collects quantitative data on femicideplayed a significant role in conducting my research. The thesis demonstrates that it is possible to constitute women’s collective subjectivity in a way that encompasses intersecting subjectivities such as being a mother, a leftist, a transgender, a student, or a disabled person. Results indicate that these differences do not cause the dissolution of the unity. The conclusion is twofold: first, urgent measures should be taken by the state and, second, the relationship between activist groups and the state needs to be recovered. Further research is needed to analyze other dynamics of the struggle against femicide such as media, economy, and politics which could enhance the effectiveness of feminist activism.
Constructing Rural Identities – A Diverse Narrative
(2016-07-05) Steitz, Selma; University of Gothenburg/Department of Cultural Sciences; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper
So far, rural people and communities have not received much consideration within the field of gender studies while urban individuals and their lifestyles have been normalised. I argue that the rural space inhabits a huge variety of people who deserve to be recognised within the field and can contribute to the production of new knowledge. Therefore it is my aim to study people who live in the countryside, whereby I examine and analyse how they construct their rural identities. Also, I want to see how they relate to gender norms within their society and how that might influence them in their rural identities. I have done semi-structured in-depth interviews with five people in a rural area in southwestern Germany, who gave me an account of their rural lives and what living in a rural space means to them. These demonstrate how diverse experiences in one rural space can be and consequently how differently rural identities can be produced. I come to the conclusion that rural identity depends very much on the intersections of time and space, who, in this case, are highly intertwined with age, class, gender, the body and sexuality. Moreover, I can detect that concepts like home, the rural idyll, nature and the binary between rural and urban are involved in constructing and giving meaning to rural identity.

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