Ph.D. Defense by Rikke Frank Jørgensen Jan 27th
Rikke Frank Jørgensen defends her thesis:
Framing the Net - How Discourse Shapes Law and Culture
Friday the 27th January 2012 at 13.00 – 16.00 in room 42-2.37
Abstract
In her dissertation Rikke Frank Jørgensen addresses the internet as a topic for policy making, and as a tool for social change. Drawing on current policy examples as well as cross-disciplinary scholarship she suggest a metaphorical framework where the internet is conceptualized as infrastructure, public sphere, media and culture respectively. The metaphors represent different dimensions of internet use and each frame specific policy themes and claims related to the internets potential to facilitate social change. In the second part of the dissertation two of the metaphors are applied to case studies. The public sphere metaphor is used to study how groups in Uganda utilize new and old media to strengthen the livelihood and public participation of local women, whereas the culture metaphor is used to study the social practices by which the German Wikipedia community seek to advance the public domain of information.
Concluding her work, she points to some of the current challenges facing internet policy makers and scholars, not least the role and powers of private parties in the internet era.
Assessment Committee
Norbert Wildermuth, Associate Professor, CBIT, Roskilde University (chairman)
Robin Mansell, Professor, Media and Communications, London School of Economics
Cees Hamelink, Professor, Health, Globalization and Human Rights, University of Amsterdam
Head of defense
Keld Bødker, Head of Doctoral School, CBIT, Roskilde University
Supervisor
Thomas Tufte, Professor, CBIT, Roskilde University
Co-supervisor
Jens Hoff, Professor, Copenhagen University
Thesis is available for examination at Roskilde University Library or can be downloaded here.
After the defense CBIT will host a reception.