Kompetensbegreppet i kommunal verksamhet : En kritisk diskursanalys

Sammanfattning: Large retirement numbers and fierce competition of available labour, results in municipalities have to be more attractive as an employer. One way for the municipalities to fulfil their staffing requirement is partly to increase their recruitment efforts, and partly to educate their existing employees. Discussions about the supply of competence are therefore pressing within municipal activity. The aim of the study was to investigate how the concept of competence is used within a municipal administration. The method that has been used is Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, a method that allows multi dimensional analysis. By illustrate which discourses that exist around the concept, it was my supposition to make visible the usage of the concept. The analysis of the studied material has resulted in four discourse’s being identified around competence: a political salaried discourse, a neoliberal discourse, a pragmatic discourse and a sociocultural discourse. Consistently competence is viewed as an important part of the activities efficiency, quality and development.