Politics at Play: Analyzing discussions on political protests in Animal Crossing - New Horizons

Sammanfattning: Executing and performing political protests is not just for the streets. A number of political protests have been held in video games, using the features of the game to convey political messages. In a world where there is ample possibility to communicate online, players are able to discuss these protests in online communities. In 2020, two political protests were held in the Nintendo game Animal Crossing – New Horizons. In this thesis, I study the reception of these protests amongst users of online forums related to the game. Online communities have been studied and the discussions on the two protests have been juxtaposed. The standpoints of users have been presented using a discourse analytical method called positioning. Then, they have been analyzed using theories on power by Michel Foucualt. The two protests are being discussed differently. There seems to be an idea that politics have no place in these communities, but there is an apparent disagreement on what constitutes as politics. My analysis shows power relations at play; both in the discussions present and in the discussions not present. One protest is discussed far more frequently than the other, which affects the possibility to spread knowledge of the cause of the protest. From here, I conclude that the (in)ability to spread knowledge affects which protest is acceptable to discuss. The findings of this thesis say a lot of the contemporary gamers’ approach to politics and their belonging in video games or forums related to video games. This, in turn, is important knowledge for various kinds of actors.