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Through a post-political gaze: On the ideological loading of democracy in the coverage of Chávez's Venezuela
Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9515-4691
2015 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Örebro: Örebro university , 2015. , p. 124
Series
Örebro Studies in Media and Communication, ISSN 1651-4785 ; 20
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-27907ISBN: 9789175290836 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-27907DiVA, id: diva2:853039
Public defence
2015-06-12, Prismahuset, Hörsal 1, Örebro universitet, 13:15 (English)
Opponent
Available from: 2015-04-08 Created: 2015-09-11 Last updated: 2016-09-06Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Constructing (Il)Legitimate Democracy: Populism and Power Concentration in Newspaper Discourse on Venezuela
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Constructing (Il)Legitimate Democracy: Populism and Power Concentration in Newspaper Discourse on Venezuela
2014 (English)In: tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique, E-ISSN 1726-670X, Vol. 12, no 2, p. 802-821Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Despite scholarly consensus about the importance of the media for democracy, scant attention has been paid to what democracy means to journalistic discourse and how discourses on democracy are interrelated with legitimacy. The aim of this paper is to explore how (il)legitimate democracy is constructed in newspaper discourse. By using critical discourse analysis (CDA), this paper examines foreign news items about Venezuela, a country that under the presidency of Hugo Chávez has challenged the dominant global political and economic orders. The analysis section focuses on two discourses about the Venezuelan government: the constructions of populism  and power concentration, which serve to mark deviance from what is perceived as a legitimate democracy. This paper argues that a liberal perception of democracy constitutes a central framework for the construction of (il)legitimate democracy, which is revealed not least by news discourse’s focus on what is morally unacceptable political conduct according to liberal democratic norms. In this respect, the media discourse serves to denounce potential abuses of governmental power but fail to recognize democracy in the context of a social struggle against the effects of neoliberalism and capitalism. In this case, the news media is hegemonic in the Gramscian sense, because it provides a framework of democracy that remains within the dominant economic and political structures.

Keywords
Democracy; Media; Journalism; Discourse; Ideology; Legitimacy; Liberalism; Foreign News, Venezuela, Hugo Chávez
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-27909 (URN)
Available from: 2015-09-11 Created: 2015-09-11 Last updated: 2023-06-30Bibliographically approved
2. Through Eurocentric logics: The construction of difference in foreign news discourse on Venezuela
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Through Eurocentric logics: The construction of difference in foreign news discourse on Venezuela
2016 (English)In: Journal of Language and Politics, ISSN 1569-2159, E-ISSN 1569-9862, Vol. 15, no 1, p. 94-115Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study aims to explore the construction of difference in foreign news discourse on culturally similar but politically different non-Western subjects. Applying critical discourse analysis (CDA) together with a critique of Eurocentrism, the study examines difference in newspaper constructions of government supporters and oppositional groups in Venezuela. Discursive differences are evident in the strategies used for constructing the two groups with regard to political rationality and violence. Government supporters are associated with social justice, Venezuela’s poor, dogmatic behavior, and the use of political violence. The opposition, in contrast, is constructed as following a Western democratic rationale that stresses anti-authoritarianism. This group is primarily associated with victims of violence. While the opposition is conveyed as being compatible with Eurocentric values and practices, government supporters to great extent deviate from these norms. Such constructions serve to legitimize politico-ideological undercurrents of Eurocentrism, as the defense of liberalism.

Keywords
critical discourse analysis, ideology, foreign news, media, legitimacy, difference, Eurocentrism, postcolonialism, Venezuela
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-27908 (URN)10.1075/jlp.15.1.05aba (DOI)000375712400005 ()2-s2.0-84969706233 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2014-12-17 Created: 2015-09-11 Last updated: 2017-12-20Bibliographically approved
3. First hegemony, then democracy: On ideology and the media discourse on the coup against Hugo Chávez
Open this publication in new window or tab >>First hegemony, then democracy: On ideology and the media discourse on the coup against Hugo Chávez
2012 (English)In: Observatorio (OBS*), E-ISSN 1646-5954, Vol. 6, no 3, p. 105-128Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study examines the media discourse on the 2002 coup d’état against the government of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, with the aim of exploring how ideology in media discourse helps construct democracy in a Latin American political context. Critical discourse analysis is used to examine written pieces from Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), El País (Uruguay), and the New York Times (US). The study finds that the discourse on the overthrow and the events preceding it constructs the coup as a potential victory for democracy and as the definitive end of Chávez. However, after the failure of the coup and the reinstallation of Chávez one can perceive discursive renegotiations, such as the publishing of non-fundamental criticism of the overthrow. The study argues that the media discourse on the coup displays a highly relativistic attitude towards democracy, which serves the interests of the elite classes in Venezuela and of US hegemony in global politics. The article also argues that the flexibility of the discourse at hand shows the need for a detailed analysis of how ideology is (re)formed in media discourse.

Keywords
Critical discourse analysis, democracy, ideology, hegemony, news media, Hugo Chávez
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-27913 (URN)
Available from: 2012-09-06 Created: 2015-09-11 Last updated: 2024-01-19Bibliographically approved

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