Can influencers be sustainable?: A critical analysis of how capitalist logics operate within greenfluencers’ sustainability discourses
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
This thesis examines the discourses produced by Instagram's green influencers or greenfluencers, focusing on the intersection of capitalism and sustainability. Greenfluencers attempt to merge environmental awareness with lifestyle content, but often encounter friction between promoting sustainability and engaging with the capitalist system. With a focus on macro greenfluencers with over 100,000 followers, the aim is to unravel how they understand and promote sustainability in their discourses, using the recontextualisation approach of critical discourse analysis. This thesis reflects some performative and contradictory practices of greenfluencers, revealing their recontextualisation of neoliberalism within sustainability discourses. Two key topics are identified: Self-serving sustainability, and Contradictory essence. The findings highlight how greenfluencers often bring forth personal achievements over call to collective action, promoting individual responsibility while perpetuating consumption culture. Despite occasional calls for environmental justice, their approach often lacks the depth and systemic perspective.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 56
Keywords [en]
influencer, social media, sustainability, capitalism, critical discourse analysis
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-65097OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-65097DiVA, id: diva2:1873052
Subject / course
HLK, Media and Communication Studies
Supervisors
Examiners
2024-06-192024-06-182025-10-13Bibliographically approved