#Metahdomme – we do want marriage equality. A discursive analysis of the politicization of communication in Finnish companies
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Authors
Date
2018
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Corporate Communication
Language
en
Pages
68+5
Series
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to observe and analyze how companies can use discursive legitimation to engage in public debates beyond their immediate field of business and in doing so, gain legitimacy for themselves. The study aims to extend theory on the politicization of companies and how this can be advanced through discursive means, thus also contributing to a wider discussion on the role and form of corporate social responsibility in 2017. The study is carried out as a critical discourse analysis of Finnish companies’ Twitter responses to the Finnish marriage equality debate between 2013–2017. My data consists of 59 tweets collected during three distinct periods of the debate – the initial signing period of the Citizen’s Initiative in 2013; the #metahdomme -corporate campaign period in late 2014; and the period when the legislation came into effect in spring 2017. The discourses are analyzed and contrasted across the three periods. Three distinct discourses are uncovered and identified as discourses of equality, discourses of love and discourses of championship. Whilst these discourses are used rather interchangeably, I find that the strength with which companies legitimize marriage equality increases over the four-year observation period. By 2017, companies are employing their existing products and narratives to strongly legitimize the debate. Based on my findings, I argue that companies are gradually transitioning towards a new role in society – a role that both allows and encourages them to participate in public debates beyond their immediate field of business. The thesis argues that while companies may adopt various discourses to do so, in order to gain moral legitimacy, companies select discourses that are rooted in values that the company wants to uphold and broadcast more widely to the surrounding society.Description
Thesis advisor
Eräranta, KirsiKeywords
discourse analysis, legitimation, marriage equality, corporate social responsibility