PhD in Sociology no. 48 - 2021 PhD in Sociology // no. 48 - 2021 PhD in Sociology // no. The objectives of this dissertation are twofold: First, the dissertation seeks to contribute to existing literature on Scandinavian discourse on Islam by comparing Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish content on Facebook, a central arena for news as well as public debate. Second, it aims to contribute to existing literature on counterpublics as it attempts to analyse to what extent counterpublic discourses appear in mainstream news outlets’ comment sections on Facebook. Existing research on online counterpublics has largely focused on (progressive and left-wing) counterpublic collectives in secluded communicative spaces, such as blogs, discussions forums, and alternative news sites. In contrast, this thesis analyses (both Islam-hostile and Islam-sympathetic) counterpublic discourses expressed in the comment sections of highly influential, mainstream news media. Anders Nima Jafarnejad Lien Lien Jafarnejad Nima Anders A quantitative content analysis is carried out of Facebook posts (and associated articles) Counterpublic Discourses in published by mainstream news outlets (N=602) and comments written by ordinary citizens in response to these posts (N=6797), in data from 2018. It is found that while the news outlets’ Facebook posts depict Islam mainly positively, the user comments are Facebook Comment largely negative. While a majority of the comments are found to express a mainstream view, a substantial Sections— minority also engages in counterpublic discourses, contesting the bounds of established discourse around Islam in the Scandinavian public spheres. It is, however, mainly those who are sceptical of Islam and/or Muslims who engage in this agitational activity. A Comparative Analysis of Particularly the Swedish comment sections are found to be permeated by Islam-sceptic counterdiscursive comments, while this is less so the case in Denmark, with Norway in Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish a middle position. I argue that different national contexts around Islam, immigration, Comment Sections— Facebook in Discourses Counterpublic integration, and national identity have created varying incentives for Scandinavian (Social) Media Discourse on Islam citizens to challenge the limits of the debatthrough the online realm, thus leading to varying prevalence of counterdiscursive comments in the three countries’ comment sections. Anders Nima Jafarnejad Lien In light of the finding that both Islam-sceptic and Islam-friendly commenters engage in counterpublic discourses, the dissertation highlights the need to view counterpublics as self-perceived correctives to an excluding mainstream rather than as excluded per se. FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES ISBN: 978-82-92958-46-9 Print: Trykkeriet, Nord University www.nord.no Counterpublic Discourses in Facebook Comment Sections— A Comparative Analysis of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish (Social) Media Discourse on Islam Anders Nima Jafarnejad Lien PhD in Sociology Faculty of Social Sciences Nord University PhD in Sociology no. 48 (2021) Counterpublic Discourses in Facebook Comment Sections— A Comparative Analysis of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish (Social) Media Discourse on Islam Anders Nima Jafarnejad Lien © Anders Nima Jafarnejad Lien, 2021 ISBN: 978-82-92958-46-9 Print: Trykkeriet NORD Nord University N-8049 Bodø Tel: +47 75 51 72 00 www.nord.no All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission from Nord University. Acknowledgments I would like to thank the Faculty of Social Sciences at Nord University for giving me the opportunity to write a dissertation about a very interesting topic. It has been a true privilege. I am particularly grateful to my main supervisor, Lisbeth Morlandstø, who has provided invaluable guidance from start to finish. Your knowledge, precision, and kindness are much appreciated. I am also indebted to my co-supervisor, Dag Elgesem, whose advice and assistance have been extremely useful, both in the work with the dissertation and with several course papers. I wish also to acknowledge the helpful comments given by Kjetil Jakobsen and Tine Figenschou, at my mid- and end seminars, respectively. My grateful thanks are also extended to Johans Sandvin for commenting on parts of the dissertation and for his role as PhD programme coordinator. I would like to thank Jostein Gripsrud and the rest of the SCANPUB team for inviting me to interesting and educational seminars. I am also grateful to the Weizenbaum Institute for hosting me as a research fellow from January–February 2019 and especially to Pablo Porten-Cheé, who was my supervisor during the stay. I wish also to thank the two students who assisted me with the intercoder reliability tests carried out in this project. Finally, I am grateful to my parents for always supporting me. Bodø, December 2020 Anders Nima Jafarnejad Lien iii iv Abstract The objectives of this dissertation are twofold: First, the dissertation seeks to contribute to existing literature on Scandinavian discourse on Islam by comparing Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish content on Facebook, a central arena for news as well as public debate. Second, it aims to contribute to existing literature on counterpublics as it attempts to analyse to what extent counterpublic discourses appear in mainstream news outlets’ comment sections on Facebook. Existing research on online counterpublics has largely focused on (progressive and left-wing) counterpublic collectives in secluded communicative spaces, such as blogs, discussions forums, and alternative news sites. In contrast, this thesis analyses (both Islam-hostile and Islam-sympathetic) counterpublic discourses expressed in the comment sections of highly influential, mainstream news media. A quantitative content analysis is carried out of Facebook posts (and associated articles) published by mainstream news outlets (N=602) and comments written by ordinary citizens in response to these posts (N=6797), in data from 2018. It is found that while the news outlets’ Facebook posts depict Islam mainly positively, the user comments are largely negative. While a majority of the comments are found to express a mainstream view, a substantial minority also engages in counterpublic discourses, contesting the bounds of established discourse around Islam in the Scandinavian public spheres. It is, however, mainly those who are sceptical of Islam and/or Muslims who engage in this agitational activity. Particularly the Swedish comment sections are found to be permeated by Islam-sceptic counterdiscursive comments, while this is less so the case in Denmark, with Norway in a middle position. I argue that different national contexts around Islam, immigration, integration, and national identity have created varying incentives for Scandinavian citizens to challenge the limits of the debate v through the online realm, thus leading to varying prevalence of counterdiscursive comments in the three countries’ comment sections. In light of the finding that both Islam-sceptic and Islam-friendly commenters engage in counterpublic discourses, the dissertation highlights the need to view counterpublics as self-perceived correctives to an excluding mainstream rather than as excluded per se. vi Oppsummering Denne avhandlingen har to overordnede mål: For det første forsøker den å bidra til eksisterende litteratur om skandinavisk diskurs om islam ved å sammenligne norsk, svensk og dansk innhold på Facebook, en sentral arena for nyheter så vel som offentlig debatt. For det andre tar den sikte på å bidra til eksisterende litteratur om motoffentligheter ved å analysere i hvilken grad motoffentlighets-diskurser opptrer i hovedstrømsmediers kommentarfelt på Facebook. Tidligere forskning på motoffentligheter i onlinesfæren har i stor grad fokusert på (progressive og venstre- orienterte) grupper i blogger, diskusjonsfora, alternative nyhetsmedier og andre arenaer mer eller mindre avsondret fra mektige offentligheter. Denne avhandlingen, derimot, analyserer (både islamfiendtlige og islamsympatiske) motoffentlighets- diskurser i kommentarfeltene til innflytelsesrike nyhetsmedier, som i stor grad preger den offentlige debatten. Kvantitativ innholdsanalyse brukes for å undersøke Facebook-poster (og artiklene disse lenker til) publisert av hovedstrømsmedier (N=602) og kommentarer vanlige borgere har til disse postene (N=6797). Dataene er fra 2018. Avhandlingen finner at mens nyhetsmedienes Facebook-poster dekker islam hovedsakelig positivt, er vanlige borgeres kommentarer i stor grad negative til islam. Selv om en majoritet av kommentarene uttrykker et mainstream standpunkt, er det et betydelig mindretall av kommentarene som inneholder motoffentlighets- diskurser. Disse kommentarene utfordrer grensene for etablert diskurs rundt islam i de skandinaviske offentlighetene. Det er dog hovedsakelig de som er skeptiske til islam og/eller muslimer som bedriver denne agitasjonen. Studien viser at særlig de svenske kommentarfeltene er gjennomsyret av islamskeptiske motdiskursive kommentarer, mens dette i mindre grad er tilfellet i Danmark, med Norge i en mellomposisjon. Jeg argumenterer for at ulike nasjonale kontekster rundt islam, innvandring, integrering og nasjonal identitet har gitt ulike insentiver for borgere i vii de tre skandinaviske landene til å utfordre grensene til islamdebatten gjennom onlinesfæren, noe som dermed også har ført til