Västra Götalands kommunala kriskommunikation. Ett intersektionellt perspektiv på krisberedskap

Abstract

This thesis examines the municipalities of Västra Götaland and the way they are prepared for crisis communication towards people with a foreign background. Over the past years there have been several studies that have examined the issue of crisis communications towards minorities but these are often focused on the target group. In this study, I focus on the authorities' actions. The theoretical approach is primarily an intersectional one and in this way the thesis is centred on the creation of different categories, the relationship between these categories and the possibilities working with these at the municipalities. On behalf of Region Västra Götaland, this investigation began with a survey that went out to the communications officers in charge of the crisis communication in each municipality. The ambition was to clarify the preparedness of each one and show how they relate to one another. Based on the result, the statistically most interesting municipalities were chosen for further in-depth interviews, which had essentially two goals. The first, was to find out more closely how the they planned, talked about, and thought of their own and others planning. The second, was to find out which categories (class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status etc.) they where embedding in the expression ”people with a foreign background”. The later of the two goals where reached using intersectional analysis of the conversations with the representatives from the chosen municipalities. The result shows several recurring ways of thinking, based on assumptions about the target group, but there are also more insightful considerations of the heterogeneity of the group of interest. Several municipalities put forward both possibilities and difficulties, but common for all, were a view of communication as equal to attitude change – something that is not a given consequence of a communication effort. In conclusion, the study clarifies several elements that one should take into account when planning for crisis communication towards people with a foreign background and questions the definition of the term itself.