Johan Lindell
Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor at Department of Informatics and Media
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 10 35
- E-mail:
- johan.lindell@im.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Ekonomikum (plan 3)
Kyrkogårdsgatan 10 - Postal address:
- Box 513
751 20 UPPSALA
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Short presentation
Johan Lindell is an Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies. Lindell specializes in field theory and the works of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. He has published his research in a wide range of international journals including European Journal of Communication, Cultural Sociology, Communication Theory, Poetics, New Media & Society and Digital Journalism. Lindell is the programme coordinator of the international master's programme Digital Media & Society (DIMS).
Keywords
- inequality
- social inequality
- consumption
- class
- news
- globalization
- cultural sociology
- mediatization
- journalism
- mass media
Biography
Johan Lindell (PhD, 2014, Karlstad University) is an Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies.
Research
Johan Lindell's research area is broad and comprises media use, fields of cultural production, lifestyles and social stratification, mediatization, and the Nordic media system. Lindell specializes in field theory and the works of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu – a framework which he has applied to understand cultural production in the journalistic field, the field of television production, and the scientific field, and to study media and news consumption and lifestyles in terms of social reproduction and inequality.
Lindell has published his research in a wide range of international journals including European Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Poetics, New Media & Society, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Information, Communication & Society, Cultural Sociology, Media, Culture & Society, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Social Media + Society and Digital Journalism. His most recent book is Bourdieusian Media Studies (Routledge, 2024).
Lindell's research has been awarded "Top Paper" by the Philosophy, Theory and Critique-division (2019 and 2022) and by the Journalism Studies-division (2021) of the International Communication Association. He has also received the Wolfgang Donsbach outstanding article of the year-award (2018).

Publications
Selection of publications
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Routledge, 2024
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The future of the Nordic media model: A digital media welfare state?
Nordicom, 2024
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Normative foundations of media welfare: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
Part of Media Culture and Society, p. 305-322, 2023
- DOI for Normative foundations of media welfare: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
- Download full text (pdf) of Normative foundations of media welfare: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
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Kommunikation: En introduktion
Studentlitteratur AB, 2023
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Symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
Part of Cultural Sociology, p. 379-401, 2022
- DOI for Symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
- Download full text (pdf) of Symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
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I'm here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
Part of Information, Communication and Society, p. 2063-2082, 2022
- DOI for I'm here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
- Download full text (pdf) of I'm here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
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The field of television production: Genesis, structure and positiontakings
Part of Poetics, p. 101432, 2020
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Distinction recapped: Digital news repertoires in the class structure
Part of New Media and Society, p. 3029-3049, 2018
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Part of Social Media + Society, p. 1-11, 2017
Recent publications
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Part of H-ermes: Journal of Communication, p. 288-320, 2026
- DOI for Bourdieu, politics and the media: Visibility as capital in the field of institutionalized elite politics
- Download full text (pdf) of Bourdieu, politics and the media: Visibility as capital in the field of institutionalized elite politics
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Part of Mobile Media & Communication, p. 1-26, 2025
- DOI for The symbolic space of smartphone use: How capital and habitus shape existing gender and age divides in smartphone practices
- Download full text (pdf) of The symbolic space of smartphone use: How capital and habitus shape existing gender and age divides in smartphone practices
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From citizen identity to datafied life: Rethinking media reliance in times of pervasive connectivity
Part of Communication Theory, p. 24-35, 2025
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2025
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Digital Journalism and “Radical Audience Studies”: Toward a cultural sociology of news use
Part of The Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies, p. 93-101, Routledge, 2025
All publications
Articles in journal
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Part of H-ermes: Journal of Communication, p. 288-320, 2026
- DOI for Bourdieu, politics and the media: Visibility as capital in the field of institutionalized elite politics
- Download full text (pdf) of Bourdieu, politics and the media: Visibility as capital in the field of institutionalized elite politics
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Part of Mobile Media & Communication, p. 1-26, 2025
- DOI for The symbolic space of smartphone use: How capital and habitus shape existing gender and age divides in smartphone practices
- Download full text (pdf) of The symbolic space of smartphone use: How capital and habitus shape existing gender and age divides in smartphone practices
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From citizen identity to datafied life: Rethinking media reliance in times of pervasive connectivity
Part of Communication Theory, p. 24-35, 2025
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Part of Nordicom Review, p. 1-24, 2025
- DOI for Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance
- Download full text (pdf) of Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance
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Part of Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, p. 445-464, 2024
- DOI for Does it Make a Difference?: Television’s Misrepresentation of the Working-Class as Cultivation Effects
- Download full text (pdf) of Does it Make a Difference?: Television’s Misrepresentation of the Working-Class as Cultivation Effects
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Part of Digital Journalism, p. 894-913, 2024
- DOI for Digitalizing the journalistic field: Journalists' views on changes in journalistic autonomy, capital and habitus
- Download full text (pdf) of Digitalizing the journalistic field: Journalists' views on changes in journalistic autonomy, capital and habitus
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Media practice and class-making: The anticipation of stigma and the cultural middle-class habitus
Part of Media Culture and Society, p. 21-37, 2024
- DOI for Media practice and class-making: The anticipation of stigma and the cultural middle-class habitus
- Download full text (pdf) of Media practice and class-making: The anticipation of stigma and the cultural middle-class habitus
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Part of Nordicom Review, p. 238-256, 2024
- DOI for The shadowy realm of news avoidance: Exploring public service news avoidance as negative social action
- Download full text (pdf) of The shadowy realm of news avoidance: Exploring public service news avoidance as negative social action
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Part of The International Journal of Cultural Policy, p. 431-448, 2023
- DOI for Media policy attitudes and political attitudes: the politization of media policy and the support for the 'media welfare state'
- Download full text (pdf) of Media policy attitudes and political attitudes: the politization of media policy and the support for the 'media welfare state'
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Normative foundations of media welfare: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
Part of Media Culture and Society, p. 305-322, 2023
- DOI for Normative foundations of media welfare: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
- Download full text (pdf) of Normative foundations of media welfare: Perspectives from the Nordic countries
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Disconnecting from digital news: News avoidance and the ignored role of social class
Part of Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism, p. 1980-1997, 2023
- DOI for Disconnecting from digital news: News avoidance and the ignored role of social class
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The media welfare state: A citizen perspective
Part of European Journal of Communication, p. 330-349, 2022
- DOI for The media welfare state: A citizen perspective
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Part of Nordicom Review, p. 190-213, 2022
- DOI for Publishing, sharing, and spreading online news: A case study of gatekeeping logics in the platform era
- Download full text (pdf) of Publishing, sharing, and spreading online news: A case study of gatekeeping logics in the platform era
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Symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
Part of Cultural Sociology, p. 379-401, 2022
- DOI for Symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
- Download full text (pdf) of Symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
-
I'm here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
Part of Information, Communication and Society, p. 2063-2082, 2022
- DOI for I'm here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
- Download full text (pdf) of I'm here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
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Introduction: Class in/and the media: On the importance of class in media and communication studies
Part of Nordicom Review, p. 1-19, 2021
- DOI for Introduction: Class in/and the media: On the importance of class in media and communication studies
- Download full text (pdf) of Introduction: Class in/and the media: On the importance of class in media and communication studies
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Something ‘Old’, Something‘New’?: The UK Space ofPolitical Attitudes After the Brexit Referendum
Part of Sociological Research Online, p. 505-524, 2021
- DOI for Something ‘Old’, Something‘New’?: The UK Space ofPolitical Attitudes After the Brexit Referendum
- Download full text (pdf) of Something ‘Old’, Something‘New’?: The UK Space ofPolitical Attitudes After the Brexit Referendum
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A Neoliberal Media Welfare State?: The Swedish Media System in Transformation
Part of Javnost - The Public, p. 375-390, 2021
- DOI for A Neoliberal Media Welfare State?: The Swedish Media System in Transformation
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Media and basic desires: An approach to measuring the mediatization of daily human life
Part of Communications, p. 275-296, 2021
- DOI for Media and basic desires: An approach to measuring the mediatization of daily human life
- Download full text (pdf) of Media and basic desires: An approach to measuring the mediatization of daily human life
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Mediatization from within: A plea for emic approaches to media-related social change
Part of Communication Theory, p. 956-977, 2021
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The field of television production: Genesis, structure and positiontakings
Part of Poetics, p. 101432, 2020
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Part of Nordicom Review, p. 109-125, 2020
- DOI for Establishment versus Newcomers, Critical versus Administrative?: Sketching the structure of the Swedish field of media and communication studies
- Download full text (pdf) of Establishment versus Newcomers, Critical versus Administrative?: Sketching the structure of the Swedish field of media and communication studies
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Battle of the Classes: News Consumption Inequalities and Symbolic Boundary Work
Part of Critical Studies in Media Communication, p. 480-496, 2020
- DOI for Battle of the Classes: News Consumption Inequalities and Symbolic Boundary Work
- Download full text (pdf) of Battle of the Classes: News Consumption Inequalities and Symbolic Boundary Work
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Media Studies for a Mediatized World: Rethinking Media and Social Space
Part of Meddelelser om konservering, p. 1-4, 2018
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Distinction recapped: Digital news repertoires in the class structure
Part of New Media and Society, p. 3029-3049, 2018
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Distinctions in the media welfare state: audience fragmentation in post-egalitarian Sweden
Part of Media Culture and Society, p. 639-655, 2018
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Young people, class and the news: Distinction, socialization and moral sentiments
Part of Journalism Studies, p. 2042-2061, 2018
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The Space of Journalistic Work: A Theoretical Model
Part of Communication Theory, p. 403-423, 2018
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A matter of cultural distinction: News consumption in the online media landscape
Part of European Journal of Communication, p. 116-130, 2017
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Part of Social Media + Society, p. 1-11, 2017
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Part of Nordicom Review, p. 51-64, 2017
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Dimensions of journalistic workplace autonomy: A five-nation comparison
Part of Javnost - The Public, p. 307-326, 2016
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The elastic mobility of business elites: Negotiating the 'home' and 'away' continuum
Part of European Journal of Cultural Studies, p. 435-449, 2016
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Cosmopolitan Journalists?: Global Journalism in the Work and Visions of Journalists
Part of Journalism Studies, p. 860-870, 2016
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Communication as spatial production: Expanding the research agenda of communication geography
Part of Space and Culture, p. 56-66, 2016
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Social reproduktion i Värmland: Klass, utbildning och livsstil
Part of Sociologisk forskning, p. 289-306, 2016
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Part of Journalism Studies, p. 79-96, 2015
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Bourdieusian Media Studies: Returning Social Theory to Old and New Media
Part of Distinktion, p. 362-377, 2015
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Mediapolis, Where art Thou?: Mediated Cosmopolitanism in Three Media Systems between 2002 and 2010
Part of International Communication Gazette, p. 189-207, 2015
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Part of Sociological Research Online, 2014
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Elysium: Det ultimata grindsamhället
Part of Värmlands Folkblad, 2013
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Part of Observatorio (OBS*), p. 47-62, 2012
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Medier och Kosmopolitism: Varthän?
Part of Nordicom Information, 2012
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Medierad kosmopolitism: en empirisk inblick
Part of Nordicom Information, p. 3-15, 2011
Books
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Routledge, 2024
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Smaken för nyheter: Klasskillnader i det digitala medielandskapet
Nordicom, 2018
Chapters in book
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Digital Journalism and “Radical Audience Studies”: Toward a cultural sociology of news use
Part of The Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies, p. 93-101, Routledge, 2025
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Afterword: What’s next for the media welfare state?
Part of The future of the Nordic media model, p. 319-332, Nordicom, 2024
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Foreword: Class Cultures and the Media in Greece
Part of Class, Culture, and the Media in Greece, Volume 1, p. 1-5, Palgrave Macmillan, 2024
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Pierre Bourdieu (1979) Distinction
Part of Classics in media theory, p. 242-255, Routledge, 2024
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Introduction: The future of the digital media welfare state
Part of The future of the Nordic media model, p. 7-22, Nordicom, 2024
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Kommunikationsteoretiska traditioner: Sju perspektiv på kommunikation
Part of Kommunikation, p. 15-36, Studentlitteratur AB, 2023
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Den socialpsykologiska traditionen: Kommunikation som påverkansprocess
Part of Kommunikation, p. 107-128, Studentlitteratur AB, 2023
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Vad tycker medborgarna om public service?
Part of Public service, p. 92-111, Nordicom, 2022
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Disconnection as distinction: A Bourdieusian study of where people withdraw from digital media
Part of Disentangling, p. 61-90, Oxford University Press, 2021
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Pierre Bourdieu: La Distinction (1979)
Part of Medievetenskapens idétraditioner, p. 243-259, Studentlitteratur AB, 2020
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Internationella nyheter i svenska medier
Part of Nyheter – allt mer en tolkningsfråga, p. 126-139, Institutet för mediestudier, 2019
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Part of Geomedia Studies, Routledge, 2018
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The taste for news: Class shaping young people's news use in Sweden
Part of Youth and News in a Digital Media Environment, p. 133-140, Nordicom, 2018
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Cosmopolitan journalists?: Global journalism in the work and visions of journalists
Part of The Future of Journalism, Routledge, 2018
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News consumption in the transmedia age: Amalgamations, orientations and geo-social structuration
Part of The Places and Spaces of News Consumption, Routledge, 2016
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Världsmedborgare eller bara utlandsboende?: Kosmopolitism som ett uttryck för supermobilitet
Part of Svenska utlandsröster, p. 79-93, SOM-institutet, 2016
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Distinktioner i medievälfärdsstaten
Part of Ekvilibrium, p. 315-327, SOM-institutet, 2016
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Filterbubblan är klassifierad: Nyheter via internet och det kulturella kapitalet
Part of Värmländska utmaningar, p. 499-512, Karlstad University Press, 2016
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Part of Den postpolitiska staden, p. 104-125, Recito förlag, 2016
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Social reproduktion i Värmland
Part of Värmländska utmaningar, p. 331-342, Karlstad University Press, 2016
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Nyhetsvärdering, omvärldsorientering och regional identitet
Part of Värmländska landskap, p. 457-472, Karlstad University Press, 2012
Collections (editor)
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The future of the Nordic media model: A digital media welfare state?
Nordicom, 2024
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Kommunikation: En introduktion
Studentlitteratur AB, 2023
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Geomedia Studies: Spaces and Mobilities in Mediatized Worlds
Routledge, 2018
Conference papers
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2025
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2025
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The craft of Bourdieusian media studies: Towards a relational sociology of digital media
2024
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Rethinking media reliance in times of deep mediatization
2024
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Into the Shadowy Realm of News Avoidance: Exploring News Avoidance as Negative Social Action
2024
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Media practice and class-making: The anticipation of stigma and the cultural middle-class habitus
2023
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Digital Journalism and “Radical Audience Studies”: Toward a Cultural Sociology of News Use
2023
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2023
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2023
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Making ”good use” of mobile media: Surveying smartphone practices as social and moral space
Part of ECREA, 2022
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Mapping media life: Mediatization as conceptual mediator in a hyper-fragmented academic field
Part of ECREA, 2022
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2022
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Media welfare as a normative concept
2022
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Media use, symbolic violence and the social space: Self-imposing the mark of disgrace?
2022
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Disconnecting from digital news: News avoidance and the ignored role of social class
2022
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The media welfare state: A citizen perspective
2021
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A neo-liberal media welfare state?: The Swedish media system in transformation
2021
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Digitalizing the journalistic field: Rethinking autonomy, capital and habitus
2021
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I’m here!: Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
2021
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Where do people withdraw from digital media?: A Bourdieusian study of the taste for disconnection
2021
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An interregnum in Scandinavian Media Policy?: Sweden as a Post-Media Welfare State
2021
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Mediatization as a state of mind?: Toward an emic perspective of the mediatization of everyday life.
2020
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Battle of the classes: News consumption inequalities and symbolic boundary work
2020
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Media and Basic Desires: An Approach to Measuring the Mediatization of Daily Life
2019
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Positions, capitals and values in the Swedish field of television production
2019
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Class and media repertoires in Sweden
2018
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News Duds and Hits: Sharing on Facebook. The distribution of news in an era of layered gatekeeping
2018
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2018
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Young people, class and the news: Distinction, socialization and moral sentiments
2017
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Distinctions in the media welfare state: A Bourdieusian take on audience fragmentation
2017
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Distinctions in the world of news: A Bourdieusian approach to audience fragmentation
2017
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Mapping the space of journalistic labor in the new media environment: a model
Part of Communicating with Power, 2016
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2016
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2016
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Autonomy from the inside: Journalists’ perceptions of workplace autonomy in five European countries
2015
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On the Reluctant Cosmopolitanism of Kinetic Élites
Part of 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association, August 25-28, 2015, Prague, 2015
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Asocial Media Studies: Bourdieu as Remedy
2015
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Classified News Consumption: A Bourdieusian Take on Fragmented News Publics
2015
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Part of Book of Abstracts, p. 60-60, 2015
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OMNIBUS NEWS: Engagement or bussed?
2015
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Cosmopolitan Journalists?: Journalist professional values across a local-global continuum
2015
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Elastic mobility: Negotiating the ’home’ and ’away’ continuum
2015
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2014
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Searching for Mediapolis: Mediated Cosmopolitanism in Three Media Systems Between 2002-2010
2014
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(Mediated) cosmopolitanism as symbolic violence
2014
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2014
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(Mediated) cosmopolitanism as symbolic violence
2014
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2013
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The City as Spectacle: A Debordian Critique of the City as Commodity and Brand
2013
- Download full text 1 (pdf) of The City as Spectacle: A Debordian Critique of the City as Commodity and Brand
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2012
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2011
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The Cosmopolitan Ethos: An Empirical Inquiry into the Question of a 'Mediated Cosmopolitanism'
2011
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Media, Power & Cosmopolitanism: Rethinking Cosmopolitanism in a Digital Age
Part of Transcultural Communication, 2010
Monograph doctoral thesis
Other
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Book review: Digital Capital: A Bourdieusian Perspective on the Digital Divide
Part of European Journal of Communication, p. 423-425, 2020
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Book review: Digitala distinktioner: Klass och kontinuitet i unga mäns vardagliga mediepraktiker
Part of Nordicom Information, p. 127-129, 2015
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Book review: Media and Cosmopolitanism
Part of Communications, p. 263-265, 2015