Browsing by Subject "juxtaposition"

This thesis investigates how consumer politics is portrayed speeches given by political players. The focus is on the positions of these players: what is the perspective of which the given speech comes from? I analyze what the given speech tells about the researched phenomenon and how the status distinction between the interviewer and the interviewee in addition to the dominating positions affect the given speech. The thesis is a qualitative research where the data is analyzed by using autoetnographic means. The data is based on my internship in the European Parliament during spring 2012 and conducted interviews with the players in the Parliament. In the analysis, rhetoric, argumentation and categorization are used as methods. In addition, theater metaphor is used to enliven the autoethographic data. The thesis focuses on the political field of consumer politics, its aims and how the role of the EU institutions affects forming it. The autoethnographic side of the thesis focuses on the Parliament´s consumer politics and its players. Furthermore, the thesis discusses how the Finnish consumer politics has formed to its present form as part of the Nordic’s consumer politics and finally, how it has integrated with the EU’s consumer politics. By utilizing autoethnography, researchers´ experiences and observations are used to observe the consumer policymaking on the backstage, its wings and power fields in the core of policymaking in the European Parliament. Also by using ethnography, the targets and motives behind players´ behavior portray working in the Parliament, its power and hierarchy structures, political game and influencing. The analysis describes the roles and behavior in consumer politics from stage players own interests. The given speech about consumer politics states through juxtapositions of the interest and power struggle on the different stages of the EU. Although the struggle is multifaceted, one may compress it into three interests: the common interest of the EU, party political and national. My research shows that the common interest is obscure and unclear to the players. Moreover, the party political interest remains unclear to the players and the differences between the political groups represented by the players are imprecise. In contrast, the national interests governed by the party political guidelines are well known. The national interest in consumer politics is clear, the players perceive it important and it is accepted to work for it. EU´s consumer policy programs have become longer in time in recent years. It might show that the sphere of consumer politics will become more marginal and that its weight will become lighter. Not only is there internal conflict of interests in European consumer politics but it also falls behind working for Internal Market.