Thesis Defense: Isabell Karlsson (Strategic Communication)

Making foreign policy matter

A discursive analysis of the strategic communication of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy

Abstract

This dissertation examines strategic communication of foreign policy as a dynamic process, in which a variety of actors are involved. To achieve this, foreign policy is conceptualized as a discourse that is co-produced by the government, public diplomacy practitioners, and publics in different communication settings. The thesis argues that in these practices of co-production, power flows in and from different directions. Thus, it provides a critical examination of what happens with foreign policy in communication and how communication impacts policy.

The thesis employs an overarching discourse approach, which is elaborated into the theoretical concepts of legitimation, discursive closure, counter and brand publics, and applied discourse theory in four papers. The papers compiling the thesis focus on government’s legitimation practices; public diplomacy practitioners’ meaning construction of ambiguous foreign policy; formation practices of unintended publics in the digital sphere; and practitioners’ and government’s discursive (re-)negotiation of foreign policy change.

The thesis builds on empirical material from Sweden’s feminist foreign policy context, which was collected in interviews with public diplomacy practitioners, texts in the form of policy documents and statements of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and debates on the digital platform Reddit. Overall, the thesis shows the complex discursive constructions and negotiations involved in the strategic communication of foreign policy.

Feminist foreign policy discourse is co-produced differently by different actors: The government constructs the policy as a unique selling point, public diplomacy practitioners construct it as a depoliticized asset that can be downplayed, and publics construct it as a contrastable position. Publics are actively involved in strategic communication, albeit in unforeseeable ways. Thus, the control of state actors is limited. Practitioners are guided by the (imagined) perception of publics in making foreign policy meaningful for these, which results in downplaying the disruptive potential of foreign policy. The underlying logic is the attention economy, which leads strategic communication to structure international relations in a consumer-oriented way. In consequence, frictions between international politics and strategic communication can emerge.

The thesis contributes to research mainly in the fields of strategic communication and public diplomacy, but also to the fields of international relations and diplomacy.

Read and download the thesis in the Lund University Research Portal (PDF, new tab)

External Reviewer

The external reviewer is Professor Nancy Snow, California State University.