Emelie Adamsson
Emelie Adamsson with her dissertation The Construction of Corporate Irresponsibility.

Emelie has an interdisciplinary background in media and communication studies and environmental science, and had a particular interest in corporate responsibility and organizational communication throughout her studies. Prior to starting the PhD program, Emelie worked as a sustainability consultant.


Three questions to Emelie

 

How did you choose your topic for the dissertation?

I have written my dissertation in a research project, so the topic of the study should be in the area of corporate responsibility in the media was decided in advance. My great interest for sustainability issues in the business world has also been driving my own research focus. Theoretically, I am primarily interested in how meaning is constructed in communication and primarily in the narrative form of communication. To focus on narrative and storytelling in order to understand media communication was my own choice, which developed along the way.

What has been easy and difficult in the work on the dissertation?

The easiest thing was to collect my empirical material because it was so much fun. I have primarily studied media texts so that meant I read and analyzed newspaper articles and TV programs which was very interesting. I also really enjoy meeting people and doing interviews, which was also an important part of the collection of empirical material. The most difficult thing was definitely to write up the very last and to clarify my study's contribution to the research field.

Can you tell us something about the conclusions you made in your dissertation?

My dissertation is about how corporate irresponsibility is constructed through the narratives that are created and retold in the media. The concept of corporate irresponsibly does not have a given or self-explanatory meaning without it being communicated. Thus, the narratives spread on the topic become important parts in the meaning-making of what it means to be irresponsible as a corporation. My study is theoretically based on the constitutive role of communication for organizations and from this perspective, the stories of irresponsibility also become a building block of what a corporation is.