Discourses on Russian food embargo 2014 to the European countries in the Russian and European mass media - Диссертация

фЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТвЕННОЕ бюджетное ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ «Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет» Диссертация на соискание степени магистра по основной образовательной программе высшего образования по направлению 040100 «Социология» профиль «Европейские общества» / MA «Studies in European Societies» Discourses on Russian food embargo 2014 to the European countries in the Russian and European mass media Самокрутова Анна Валерьевна Научный руководитель /Scientific supervisor: кандидат политических наук доцент Белокурова Е.В. Dr. Belokurova E.V. Рецензент /Reviewer доктор философии по социальным наукам, кандидат политических наук Рощин Е. Н. Санкт-Петербург 2017 Introduction In the recent decades, a surge of interest to the topic of food embargo has emerged. Various aspects of the phenomenon have been considered a priority by politicians and policy-makers, scientists, journalists and many others. One of the essential parts of the research into food embargo construction is the inquiry into how it is constructed in different mass media. Each media has its own way of construction discourses on food embargo. They define what mechanisms are applied for construction of discourses, who can be presented as actors in those discourses and what topics should be highlighted. All those aspects are important for understanding of the current evaluation of the EU-Russia relations. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to study those mechanisms of discourse construction which shape the understanding of food embargo. The current construction of discourses is highly defined by mass media, who Moreover, media are gradually becoming the major source of information in a society, and, thus, increase their potential of influencing or even shaping peoples perceptions of reality. All these influences are described by media theories, which help to identify and analyze the mechanisms of the construction of discourses on different phenomena. In my research, I will consider food embargo as such a phenomenon, discourses on which could be constructed through such mechanisms as suppression of information, falsification of information and construction of myths, over- or underestimation, priming and use of language games. Media theory findings demonstrate a conclusive evidence of the media influence. It is significant to know what effects peoples attitudes and believes. Though, the question about the extent to which media influence people remains the subject of debate. There are three approaches to the relations between audience and media, that have been presented by Jakovlev in his “Basics of communication theory”: theories of mass society or media oriented theories, theories of active audience or human oriented theories, and theories of limited influence of media. Food embargo came to the foreground of media discourse in the recent years. In my research, I am going to look through mass media in Russia, Germany, UK and Estonia to find similarities and differences in discourses on food embargo. For my analysis, I have selected the EU member states with the biggest, medium and minimal amount of food export to Russia, as I have a hypothesis, that the amount of food export could influence on the frequency of discussion, on the selection of topics, on the mechanisms of the information presentation. Each country has its own way of defining what constitutes economic sanctions, who violates international rules and what consequences it has. For the background of the study I will also find out general characteristics and history of sanction. Topicality/ This research can be of interest since it studies food embargo through sociological perspective. There have been pieces of research done by political scientists on sanctions and sanction policy, but I have not found any study of the current food embargo 2014. Moreover, my research present analysis of construction of discourses on food embargo through implementation of media studies. The majority of research in the area of media studies focuses on how media influence people believes, but in this paper another dimension is considered. There are no studies on how discourses on food embargo or on other economic sanctions are constructed by mass media. There is also lack of works that study competition of various discourses in media. Theoretical frames/ Theoretical frames of the research draw upon two major sources. First is the theory of social constructionism by P. Berger and T. Luckmann which presupposes that people rationalize their experience, create assumptions about reality, produce, transform and routinize concepts, and share models of social worlds through language. Language is an important element of construction of discourses. In my research, it would help me to define categories and mechanisms of construction discourses on food embargo. This theoretical approach is combined with media theories, that will help to identify and analyze the me