Medial makt och könad karisma : En kvalitativ studie av svenska politikers iscensattningar pa Instagram infor riksdagsvalet 2022

This study investigates how political leaders construct and perform their identities on the social media platform Instagram in the context of celebrity politics and gender norms. Through the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analyzes seven Instagram posts published by Swedish party leaders Magdalena Andersson (Socialdemokraterna) and Ulf Kristersson (Moderaterna) during the 2022 election campaign. The results show that both Andersson and Kristersson engage in a discursive practice shaped by the logic of celebrity culture, where personal authenticity and emotional narratives increasingly substitute political messaging. These practices reflect a broader transformation of the political public sphere, where boundaries between the medial, political and private have become blurred. The results also indicate a difference in Kristersson’s and Andersson’s performances, where the former tends to present a more personal persona than the latter’s more professional and distanced persona. The analysis suggests that Kristersson’s more personal and open self-representation, compared to Andersson’s more reserved one, reflects underlying gendered expectations in political communication. These differences align with broader media norms in which male politicians are often afforded greater flexibility in how they present themselves, while female politicians are subjected to stricter constraints tied to traditional gender roles and stereotypes. The study concludes that Instagram has become a platform where political actors employ entertainment strategies to engage with audiences. Ultimately, the study contributes to an understanding of how celebrity politics and media logic reshape political identities, discourse and gender representation in public life.