Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative
The declining number of Swedish farmers and the consolidation of agricultural land has been raised as a future risk for the food security of Sweden. As the Swe-dish agricultural historically has been characterized by strong agricultural coop-eratives, the cooperative movement is of interest to analy...
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | H2 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
| Publicado: |
SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development
2019
|
| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572505280905216 |
|---|---|
| author | Björklund, Magne |
| author_browse | Björklund, Magne |
| author_facet | Björklund, Magne |
| author_sort | Björklund, Magne |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The declining number of Swedish farmers and the consolidation of agricultural land has been raised as a future risk for the food security of Sweden. As the Swe-dish agricultural historically has been characterized by strong agricultural coop-eratives, the cooperative movement is of interest to analyze in relation to this trend of decline. In this thesis I critically study a Swedish agricultural coopera-tive, Lantmännen. Specifically, I study how the purpose of the cooperative has changed over time in relation to agricultural policy. In order to explore how the purpose of Lantmännen has changed, I have utilized the method of Political Dis-course Analysis. I have by discourse analysis examined the goals and values, ex-pressed in the internal discussion of the Lantmännen cooperative, through proto-cols of the administrative board and statements of the president of the organiza-tion. The study stretches between 1985 and 2009, a period when the Swedish and later European agricultural policies changed fundamentally. The study shows how the goals and values changes in the argumentation of Lantmännen during the period, as a reaction to the changed agricultural policy. The changes in goals and values, in Lantmännen, were to such an extent, that the purpose of that organiza-tion had to be reformulated, which it effectively was during the 2000’s. In 1985 discussions in Lantmännen’s administrative board was characterized by a multi-plicity values to address, concerning solidarity and societal interest, when acting in respect to the changing agricultural policies. In 2009 the president of Lantmän-nen praised, that the same organization had realized its vision of becoming a thin-ner, clearer and profit producing; reflecting a transition from a cooperative iden-tity into an investor-owned firm’s (IOF). In the early material studied, the study shows how member interest (in its complexity) was the key goal in shaping deci-sion making of Lantmännen; in the later material, it is revealed, member interest was reformulated to simulate the interest of an investor. Thereby, profits and mar-ket shares could take the position as fundamental goals of decision making. |
| format | H2 |
| id | RepoSLU15003 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU150032020-06-04T12:06:56Z Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative Resonerande, syfte och medlemmar : en kritisk diskursanalys av ett svenskt jordbrukskooperativ Björklund, Magne cooperatives cooperative purpose critical studies political discourse analysis Lantmännen The declining number of Swedish farmers and the consolidation of agricultural land has been raised as a future risk for the food security of Sweden. As the Swe-dish agricultural historically has been characterized by strong agricultural coop-eratives, the cooperative movement is of interest to analyze in relation to this trend of decline. In this thesis I critically study a Swedish agricultural coopera-tive, Lantmännen. Specifically, I study how the purpose of the cooperative has changed over time in relation to agricultural policy. In order to explore how the purpose of Lantmännen has changed, I have utilized the method of Political Dis-course Analysis. I have by discourse analysis examined the goals and values, ex-pressed in the internal discussion of the Lantmännen cooperative, through proto-cols of the administrative board and statements of the president of the organiza-tion. The study stretches between 1985 and 2009, a period when the Swedish and later European agricultural policies changed fundamentally. The study shows how the goals and values changes in the argumentation of Lantmännen during the period, as a reaction to the changed agricultural policy. The changes in goals and values, in Lantmännen, were to such an extent, that the purpose of that organiza-tion had to be reformulated, which it effectively was during the 2000’s. In 1985 discussions in Lantmännen’s administrative board was characterized by a multi-plicity values to address, concerning solidarity and societal interest, when acting in respect to the changing agricultural policies. In 2009 the president of Lantmän-nen praised, that the same organization had realized its vision of becoming a thin-ner, clearer and profit producing; reflecting a transition from a cooperative iden-tity into an investor-owned firm’s (IOF). In the early material studied, the study shows how member interest (in its complexity) was the key goal in shaping deci-sion making of Lantmännen; in the later material, it is revealed, member interest was reformulated to simulate the interest of an investor. Thereby, profits and mar-ket shares could take the position as fundamental goals of decision making. SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development 2019 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15003/ |
| spellingShingle | cooperatives cooperative purpose critical studies political discourse analysis Lantmännen Björklund, Magne Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative |
| title | Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative |
| title_full | Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative |
| title_fullStr | Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative |
| title_short | Reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a Swedish agricultural cooperative |
| title_sort | reason, purpose and members : a critical discourse analysis of a swedish agricultural cooperative |
| topic | cooperatives cooperative purpose critical studies political discourse analysis Lantmännen |