TY - JOUR
T1 - Metaphors at work
T2 - Reconciling welfare and market in Danish digitalisation policies
AU - Jørgensen, Rikke Frank
AU - Søe, Sille Obelitz
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The way in which we describe processes of automation, the digital society and the technology companies that deliver many of its services carry implicit and sometimes contradicting values and ideas about the society envisioned. In this paper, we are interested in unfolding some of the metaphors that guide political discourses on digitalisation in Denmark, particularly those related to the nexus between the welfare state and the market. We propose that metaphorical analysis of policy documents serves to tease out and confront the implicit values and tensions related to how welfare ideologies are reconciled with market logics. This carries important messages about the Danish government’s imaginary of digitalisation and citizens, such as which role citizens are expected to play vis-à-vis digital services and welfare provisions. This paper argues that in contrast to the EU’s declared goal of human-centric digitalisation, the Danish government relies on metaphors that are technology-centric rather than human-centric.
AB - The way in which we describe processes of automation, the digital society and the technology companies that deliver many of its services carry implicit and sometimes contradicting values and ideas about the society envisioned. In this paper, we are interested in unfolding some of the metaphors that guide political discourses on digitalisation in Denmark, particularly those related to the nexus between the welfare state and the market. We propose that metaphorical analysis of policy documents serves to tease out and confront the implicit values and tensions related to how welfare ideologies are reconciled with market logics. This carries important messages about the Danish government’s imaginary of digitalisation and citizens, such as which role citizens are expected to play vis-à-vis digital services and welfare provisions. This paper argues that in contrast to the EU’s declared goal of human-centric digitalisation, the Danish government relies on metaphors that are technology-centric rather than human-centric.
U2 - 10.1177/01634437231188463
DO - 10.1177/01634437231188463
M3 - Journal article
VL - 46
SP - 308
EP - 323
JO - Media, Culture & Society
JF - Media, Culture & Society
SN - 0163-4437
IS - 2
ER -