Browsing by Author "Dapaah-Agyemang, Eugene"

The goal of this research was to investigate the varying impacts a social movement like the Black Lives Matter has on Finnish society and if these impacts manifest as social of developmental change and what role the media plays regarding the Black Lives Matter movement and how representation in the media can influence the movements success. The focus of my research was the BLM protest in Helsinki on June 2020. My research questions were, “How can social activist movements like Black Lives Matter affect development and societal change in Finland.” and “What role does the media have in the Black Lives Matter movement and does the media impact the movement’s ability to achieve its goals?” My research data consisted of Finnish media articles centered around the BLM protest in June 2020 and the aftermath of the event. The data consisted of articles 33 articles from 10 news agencies, which provided information from varying perspectives. Additionally, my data included a legal document mentioned in several articles from the Parliamentary Ombudsman. I conducted my analysis using content analysis. My theoretical framework of reference to help me conduct my research and support my analysis consisted of Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality and Social Constructionism. The data clearly showed that the movement had undeniable direct and indirect effects in the form of speech around racism and changing public perception by increasing awareness about social inequalities. There were clear indications of the transformative nature of the movement because of the shared experience black people faced all over the world, which allowed members of the Finnish society to discuss and shine a light on their experiences with racism. There are clear distinctions between the BLM movement in the United States and Finland, which manifested in the data as minimalizing racism in Finland. The media plays a major role in how the movement is represented and how the movements goals are achieved. There are clear indications to protest paradigms, which are how the media negatively represents social movements by focusing on violence, discrediting the message and other negative practices. In conclusion, social movements can act as agents of social change, increase awareness, and improve social conditions that racism creates, but developmental and political change require long term goals and clear objectives. Finland does not have the same systemic issues of racism as the United States, which led me to conclude that developmental goals were not feasible.