| Summary: | This paper attempts to survey the debate in the Swedish parliament on state surveillance on the Internet, from 1994 to March, 2007. With a discourse analysis inspired by Foucault, we follow how the idea of state surveillance is viewed by politicians during the period. By focusing on the Internet, we expect to find how politicians in the parliament regard the idea of an unregulated forum for citizen communication and interaction, and how the need for state surveillance on the new arena that is Internet, is expressed and argued for. Theoretical framework is given by Foucault’s theory of the Panoptic state, as well as his thoughts on discourse, power and governmentality. Foucault also supplies the methodological tools for the analysis. In attempting to find out how the political discourse on state surveillance on the Internet has been constituted, we examine what relationship between state and citizens is constituted in the discourse, how politicians argue for or against increased state surveillance, and how the possibility of applying new technology in state surveillance is viewed. The results of the analysis show a rationality for power of state control, resulting in attempts to increase the scope of state surveillance on the Internet. There is no questioning of the basic power rationale, that constitutes a need for state surveillance and control, but there is constant resistance to the attempts to increase state surveillance. We also find the discourse to be an area with a limited number of standpoints, and an ability of the political parties to make sudden switches from one position to another, radically different one, within the discourse. === Uppsatsnivå: D
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