Simon Magnusson

Simon Magnusson's research explores how language, bodies, emotions, power, and knowledge are interwoven in the creation of meaning in social interaction – and what happens when that weave begins to fray. These questions are currently examined in the contexts of climate activists’ civil disobedience and sexual consent.

Simon Magnusson (PhD) is a postdoctoral researcher at Södertörn University, affiliated with Tampere University and the University of Bologna (2024–2029).

Ongoing research projects

• In Hope and Hopelessness in Climate Activism I examine the experience of language, argument, and dialogue as undergoing erosion — and how climate activist civil disobedience constitutes a means of generating response to absent answers and reviving the capacity to shape the future in the present. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council (three-year International Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2024–2027).
• The related project Talking Green Grassroot Democracy External link. (funded by the Kone Foundation, 2025–2029; PI: Melisa Stevanovic) explores climate activism in Scandinavia, focusing on democracy and collective decision-making.

• The project Sexual Consent in Interaction (in collaboration with Melisa Stevanovic) investigates how ambiguity, (un)willingness, and continuity are represented in contemporary television series and films. Fictional depictions play a central role in reproducing cultural norms and expectations that shape how people understand and practice consent. Since public discussions of these issues are often guided by normative models of communication with limited insight into the conditions of human interaction, this research – grounded in conversation and interaction analysis – offers a more nuanced and interactionally sensitive understanding of how sexual consent can and should be understood in practice.

Simon Magnusson's doctoral dissertation External link. examined claims to power and the authority to speak for the future in a sparsely populated municipality’s vision for the year 2050. The focus was on a social deontic examination of the opportunities to have a say—both offered and actual—for youth participation in conversations with politicians and public servants.

The dissertation Boosting Young Citizens’ Deontic Status was selected by Skolporten’s Research Magazine (1/2023) as their “favorite dissertation,” with the following motivation:

“Simon Magnusson’s dissertation is an eye-opener for teachers who wish to give young people opportunities for independent and long-term action beyond the school environment. He has examined what happens on the playing field that emerges when young people are invited to participate in civic dialogues. The results also open up ethical discussions about power relations between generations.”

Publications External link.