Rifts in the Hegemony

Swedish News Journalism on Cannabis Legalization

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7500069
AutoresErnesto Abalo (0000-0001-9515-4691, Jönköping University, autor correspondente)
Ano2018
Volume20
Fascículo11
Páginas1617-1634
Data de publicação2018-10-16
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournalism Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1461-670X • E-ISSN: 1469-9699
EditoraRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1461670x.2018.1533416
OpenAlexW2896373524
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas30

This study analyzes the journalistic construction of the ongoing international renegotiation of cannabis, with the aim of contributing to the theorization of how journalism mediates between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic positions at times of crisis of hegemonic values. The study perceives the many ongoing attempts of legalizing and decriminalizing cannabis for recreational use as providing a disequilibrium to the hegemonic view of the substance as a dangerous narcotic that is rightly banned, and as intensifying a hegemonic struggle over the meaning of cannabis. Swedish print news journalism about cannabis legalization in different countries and contexts is studied, using critical discourse analysis. The analysis shows that journalism allows for debate between positive and skeptic discourses about the effects of recreational cannabis consumption and its medical benefits, and that voices that argue for cannabis legalization to combat organized crime are given important framing power. This means that a measure of legitimacy is given to discourses that counter the prohibitionist hegemony in Sweden, which means that mainstream journalism in this specific case serves as an arena for challenging hegemonic values that are in crisis

Hegemony · Journalism · Legalization · Mainstream · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Media Studies and Communication · Law