dc.description.abstract | This thesis is a discourse analysis of the Norwegian prostitution debates from 2009 to 2013.
The study is conducted through text analyses of news articles presented in the three
Norwegian national newspapers Dagbladet, Aftenposten and Klassekampen. By drawing on
Lene Hansen’s framework presented in her work Security as Practice, the thesis focuses on
identity constructions in the media debates on prostitution. The main analytical research
question of this thesis is “What identity constructions are articulated in the Norwegian media
debates on prostitution policy after the 2009 ban against purchase of sexual services was
introduced?” The 2009 ban against purchase of sexual services is a contested and highly
disputed issue in Norway. By investigating identity constructions through the articulation of
Self-identity, difference and Otherness in Norwegian newspapers, this thesis seeks to provide
an extensive analysis of the Norwegian debates as a response to the introduction of the 2009
ban against purchase of sexual services. I found that the dominant representations within the
Norwegian media debates on prostitution seem to be blooming from an object/subject
dichotomy. While foreign women in prostitution were described as victims, Norwegian
women in prostitution were described as individual agents with freedom to choose. The
dichotomy also produced a contrast between the Norwegian Self and the foreign Other at the
state level. Norway’s national identity became particularly evident through implicit identity
constructions: What is not considered Norwegian. Through a differentiation process, foreign
prostitution was represented in terms of criminal networks, organized crime and uncivilized
anarchy. Overall, I note how foreign prostitution is described as both radically different from
and a threat to Norway’s national Self-identity. | nb_NO |