MELLAN NATION OCH UNION En studie om Göteborgs-Postens framställning av svensk identitet vid EU-inträdet

Abstract

This study examines how the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten presented Swedish identity in relation to the country’s referendum and EU-membership. By investigating the usage of the Swedish identity, related to EU-membership, the ambition is to conclude whether the newspaper was positive towards EU-membership. The empirical base consists of articles produced by Göteborgs-Posten from the first of October 1994 to the last day of January 1995. The method consists of a qualitative text analysis. The aim of the method is to categorize articles related to the usage of identity based on four different predetermined categories. The four categories are based on the study's theoretical framework and are meant to symbolize different components of identity. Two of them are chosen to categorize the negative composition of the EU membership and two are positive. The study finds that Göteborgs-Posten was overall positive toward the EU and framed the Swedish identity as a part of European integration. Some articles shed light on different concerns with a Swedish membership in the EU, mostly presenting fear of loss of sovereignty, but in a wider perspective the negative articles were not representative of the entire newspaper.