Browsing by Subject "ideology"

This thesis examines the role of markets in speeches made by Ministers of Finance Iiro Viinanen and Jyrki Katainen in the plenary sessions of the Finnish parliament in 1991-1994 and 2007-2010. The aim of this study is to analyse political discourses in speeches made about state budget proposals during two economic crises, the depression of the 1990s and the Global Financial Crisis. The thesis employs Bob Jessop’s Cultural Political Economy approach to view crises as moments of contestation for hegemonic discourses and ideologies, and an opportunity to examine political and social change in the age of neoliberalism through speech. Both crises were also characterised by the contestation of the relationship between Finland and the EU, first centred around accession to the EU and in particular the role of EMU convergence criteria in designing economic policy, and in the second crisis on the nature of centre-periphery relations amid the Eurozone crisis. The purpose of this research has been to uncover the way in which ministerial speeches reflect the neoliberalisation of Finland through a specific national context, which is characterised in particular by the relationship between the state and individual, the moral nature of economic decision-making, the increasing influence and power of the civil service on decision-making through the Ministry of Finance, and the gradual replacement of defence policy by economic policy as the defining factor of Finland’s independence and sovereignty. The thesis explores these concepts through the use of Theo van Leeuwen’s conceptualisation of discourse as the recontextualisation of social practices, analysing the speeches using a comparative and thematic perspective. The analysis finds that while the Ministers of Finance did not draw on discourses of legitimation by authority with regards to the Ministry of Finance, the consistent themes during both periods drew heavily on themes of absolute necessity, responsible decision-making, moralistic attitudes towards the Finnish citizen, and constructions of unity of the Finnish people. Both Ministers also referred to market forces, investor confidence, and trust as existential questions for the sovereignty of the nation and emphasised the need for permanent changes in Finland towards the direction of a neoliberalised market economy. Similarly, the Ministers appeared to draw on paternalist understandings of the state as a shepherd of its people, a guardian of a small nation against predatory international forces, and yet a reasoned disciplinarian of an irresponsible child. The study concludes that in particular the discourses on which the Ministers draw that rely on moralistic and paternalistic articulations of the relationship between the state and the individual can be seen as indicative of the national context of neoliberalisation in Finland. Furthermore, the extent to which the crises are framed as learning opportunities varies, though both Ministers consistently refer to the permanence of the changes (structural in particular) to be made to the Finnish economy, and in differing ways envision a new age in Finland, nonetheless one of credibility, responsibility, and a stable market economy. The study also offers new avenues for research, particularly for the wider debate in parliament and crisis construals therein, in addition to using the theory and the methods of this thesis to analyse other crises, perhaps non-economic in nature, such as the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, the thesis also suggests that further research could be conducted on the paternalistic and moralistic aspects of ministerial politics in particular.

This investigation analyzes the ideological representations of superhero films produced during recent years based on a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach. The figure of the ‘caped crusader’ has a long history of media production; the narratives of these characters have expanded from comic books to a variety of media outlets (Coogan, 2006; Reynolds, 1994), including recently streaming services such as Netflix. Thus, it becomes essential to understand the meanings contained in these stories, and how they are depicted. The purpose of this study is to understand the operation of political ideologies at a textual level in media products that are often targeted to global audiences. With this, it is intended to discuss the discursive concordance, negotiations, or critiques that these products might realize upon a certain political hegemony. Moreover, it reflects on the mode in which certain contemporary events are translated in popular narratives and how they affect them. Hence, this research is founded upon a qualitative basis. Regarding the empiric materials, a sample of films is selected to undertake the general aim of this research. The sample consists in two trilogies of recent films that tell the story of Batman and Captain America respectively. The first superhero forms part of a rich media production tradition; from live-action and animated TV series, to proper films, Batman unfolds a vast narrative universe that have gained audience attention and loyalty. The second ‘masked hero’ implies a path to perceive how an American hegemony is depicted in a group of films. The hero was created as a propagandistic effort of the United States during the Second World War (Dittmer, 2005, 2013). In this sense, it is important to identify whether or not the ideological charge of the character has prevailed in recent treatments. Superhero films comprise many social meanings. This research considers the character of the superhero as part of a contemporary mythology that thrives in mainstream popular culture. It analyzes the relationship between ideology, considered as a semiotic matrix that enables the production, reproduction, and consumption of certain meanings in a given society, with cinema. This effort broadens the comprehension of political ideologies in films by developing a systematic approach to the study of ideology in media based on a CDA perspective. It unravels a deep and detailed account of the discursive operations that moor an ideology in a text.