Lights, Camera, Accolade: Towards an Understanding of the Nature and Impacts of the Nobel Peace Prize

Abstract

The Nobel Peace Prize is more than a medal,diploma and monetary sum. This thesis investigates the nature and international impacts of this accolade. It traces the historical evolution of the media resources that underpin the Prize, and offers three ways of conceptualising it: as a meme, as a set of intangible and software assets, and as a tool of soft power. The study argues that these elements are all components of the award, and that they act as communicational tools that operate in various ways to disseminate specific messages to international publics. To substantiate these conceptualisations, selected media texts are analysed using a multi-method approach. The 2007 conferral of the Prize to the former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (represented by Rajendra Pachauri) serves as the case study. The thesis concludes suggesting that the Prize can have significant impacts on individuals around the world, in encouraging universal peacemaking.