Who Is Represented?

Who is represented? A content analysis of municipality websites in Värmland county. Anna Omsford Axelsson Supervisor's name: Katherine Harrison Gender Studies, LiU Master’s Programme Gender Studies – Intersectionality and Change Master’s thesis 15 ECTS credits ISRN: LIU-TEMA G/GSIC1-A—20/002-SE Master thesis Anna Omsford Axelsson Abstract: This is a study about how the 16 different municipalities in Värmland county are representing diversity and equality on their websites by use of content analysis. I analysed diversity and equality in photos of people, first in a general context on the municipality homepages and then on their pages related to business and work. I found that there was a substantial knowledge gap in this area (of analysing official messages through photos displayed in the municipal context), although much research has been done previously on commercial imagery, for instance in advertising. From my analysis I concluded that nearly all of the municipalities in Värmland county could and should improve on representing diversity in their photos, both on their homepages and on their pages related to business and work. Looking at representations of gender only, the county of Värmland as a whole is closing in on a almost equal representation of women and men. But with some municipalities sprawling representing only one gender, there is definitely room for improvement here as well. Research question: How are the municipalities in Värmland representing diversity and equality on their websites? Keywords: diversity, equality, representation, content analysis, online content, municipality, website, organisation, gendered work, Värmland, Sweden. 2 Master thesis Anna Omsford Axelsson Table of content Introduction. 5 Introduction to previous research and theory, stereotypical representation theory. 8 Previous research municipality handbooks. 8 Previous research, print advertising. 10 Previous research, online content. 12 Intersectional feminist theory. 14 Organisational and gendered work theory. 15 Method and material. 17 About content analysis. 19 Why interpretive content analysis? 20 Delimitations. 21 Collection of empirical material. 23 Introduction to analysis of municipality homepages. (Table 1). 25 Diversity and equality? Group photos on the homepages. 26 Gender equality? Women and men on the homepages. 29 Introduction to analysis municipality business and work page. (Table 2). 30 Diversity and equality? Group photos on the business and work pages. 31 Photos of hands. 32 Gender equality? Women and men on the business and work pages. 34 Active women and men on the business and work pages. 35 What do they do? Stereotypic and counterstereotypic representations (business and work).36 Discussion and conclusion. 39 What’s next? Suggestions for future research. 41 References. 42 Appendix. 49 3 Master thesis Anna Omsford Axelsson List of figures; Figure 1. Karlstads kommuns webbplats. 18 Figure 2. Startsida - Hammarö kommun. 28 Figure 3. Välkommen till Kils kommun. 33 Figure 4. Näringsliv och arbete - Filipstads kommun. 33 Figure 5. Säffle kommun. 34 Figure 6. Munkfors kommun - I hjärtat av Värmland, längs Klarälven. 34 Figure 7. Årjängs kommun. 34 Figure 8. Näringsliv - Hammarö kommun. 36 Figure 9. Näringsliv och arbete - Arvika. 37 Figure 10. Näringsliv & arbete. 38 List of tables; Table 1. Municipality homepage. 49 Table 2. Municipality business and work page. 50 4 Master thesis Anna Omsford Axelsson Introduction. The county of Värmland has 16 different municipalities, I live in one of them, Karlstad, which has 93 898 inhabitants (Statistikmyndigheten SCB, 2020) After attending and volunteering at equality events in my hometown, I wanted to contribute to Region Värmland’s equality work. Region Värmland is an organisation “responsible for all of the county of Värmland's publicly funded regional development, health care, culture, education and public transport” (Nergård, 2020). It is also important for me to produce knowledge that is potentially useful and relevant outside of academia. I moved to this region as an adult and wish to make an impact on it and make myself useful to organisations as passionate about equality as I am. When I met with Region Värmland in March 2020 we discussed many possible topics for this thesis, I decided on a topic that was both useful for them and sparked my interest. In this thesis I am going to analyze municipality websites. I am specifically going to focus on how the municipalities are representing diversity and equality in photos of people, first in a general context on the municipality homepages and then on their pages related to business and work, that is my aim. For the purpose of this study, gender/genders is synonymous with women and men, but I am also including an intersectional perspective. In this text I define diversity as everyone being equally valuable, having the same rights and that everyone should be treated fairly and equally, and is worthy of and has the same rights to be represented, regardless of differences in genders, (sexual) orientations, ethnicities, abilities, ages etc. I chose to use the definition from the Swedish equality policy to define gender equality. By gender equality I mean; “that women and men shall have the same power to shape society and their own lives” (Lindhagen & Linde, 2019). In this thesis the discussion of diversity and equality in representations is the central theme and the context of the discussion in the paragraphs determines if the perspective in that paragraph is intersectional, gender binary or both. From these perspectives I will research who is represented and who is not represented in the photos on the municipality websites. I am hoping to find positive examples and also perhaps areas that need improvement. Therefore the research question of this study is: How are the municipalities in Värmland representing diversity and equality on their websites? 5 Master thesis Anna Omsford Axelsson The county of Värmland markets itself with its nature, many different options for outdoor activities, food and for being the birthplace of author and Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf, who was an early women’s rights activist (Landin, 2020). According to statistics gathered in 2016, many of the largest employers in this county are found in the manufacturing industry, making steel parts, cars, paper or coffee (Handelskammaren Värmland, 2016). Forestry is another big industry, according to Region Värmland (2014) [my translation] “every sixth cardboard packaging with liquide content originates from Värmland” (p. 12), so the forest, it seems, is a natural asset that is valued for both business and recreation. I also know from my previous working life experience as a shop assistant that the closeness to Norway positions Värmland to have a strong retail economy. Region Värmland (2014) emphasises the closeness to Norway both as very important for several different business branches as well as important for the labour market in this county (p. 15). When I set out to find my base of previous research it was difficult to find a study like the one I decided to do. Because this is a very local study of the municipalities in the county of Värmland, I wanted to find out what has been written previously about this local area. I managed to find some research (done by other students) that was loosely connected to my area of interest, at least because it was set in the online space and related to the county of Värmland, but in all of the studies I found, the diversity and equality perspective was absent. These studies are for instance about user friendliness of municipality websites (Beskow, 2006). There are also studies done from a place marketing perspective, focusing on and describing the challenges of how to best build a good image for the municipality online (Gustavsson, 2013). Another study was about how a municipality is communicating with its residents, for instance younger generations (Andersson, 2007). The knowledge gap in this area, the missing diversity and equality perspective, was surprising to me because “as human beings continue to produce and consume digital information online, the gendered imagery found in many of these messages can shape and influence human attitudes, perceptions, behaviors, and norms” (Singh, Chayko, Inamdar, & Floegel, 2020, p. 12). This influencing and change making potential of the online medium should receive more attention from gender scholars, because as we will find out, it is a topic that matters. Therefore my study has the potential to produce new interesting knowledge, perhaps inspiring other gender scholars to do more research in this area. I also imagine this thesis will be of interest to the different 6 Master thesis Anna Omsford Axelsson municipalities in Värmland and to Region Värmland. It could be of interest to communicators and equality strategists elsewhere in other municipalities and organisations nationally and internationally as well. My thesis also contributes to the equality debate in Sweden, by describing how diversity and equality is portrayed online in one part of the country, in general and in relation to a local labour market. Sweden prides itself on being an equality conscious nation, with issues that concern equality and inclusivity high on the government's agenda, such as democratic equal rights, economic equality, equality in healthcare and safety from gendered violence (Lindhagen & Linde, 2019, p. 2). And even though equality

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