Suchergebnisse

A growing number of recent empirical studies such as the four contributions discussed here examine the politicization of the European Union, Europe, European integration or European governance. Two general research questions mark this emerging research field. A first one is how to theorize and conceptualize the politicization of the European Union (EU) and the reasons behind it. Does politicization have to do with a decline in EU support or Euroscepticism? Does it involve an increased salience of EU affairs within national and transnational public spheres? What are politicization's repercussions on EU institutions? And how are political parties involved? A second question is whether or not politicization is beneficial for the European integration project. Does it enhance populist, xenophobic and reactionary responses? Or does it, on the contrary, bring about a 'normalization' of EU decision making in the national arenas? The studies reviewed here, authored mostly by German scholars, link empirical and theoretical perspectives on politicization. They show a number of similarities in their approach to operationalising politicization and analysing it empirically. By politicization the authors refer to controversies driven by public debate, political parties and elections. The studies leave out the third research dimension that is usually mentioned in the politicization debate, the role of EU institutions (cf. de Wilde 2011). They argue that, in order to analyse politicization, researchers need to study the salience of issues, the polarization of opinions and the expansion of actors and audiences involved in debating or shaping European integration. By salience the authors understand the importance attributed to the EU and European integration, indicated by the number of newspaper articles dealing with European governance, the awareness of citizens of the EU, and the amount of public statements. Polarization refers to extreme positions, either in favour or against different aspects of European governance. Actor and audience expansion refers to the growing number of citizens and collective actors who invest time and money to follow and engage with EU governance. The setting of these processes include parliaments, public spheres and public opinion. ; peerReviewed

This article investigates how the systemic politicization of the EU is associated with support for different political parties. We argue that, while politicization involves actions by both Eurosceptic and Europhile parties, it does not affect parties at both extremes of the continuum in the same way. To investigate these differentiated effects, we leverage data from the European Elections Study and the Chapel Hill expert survey covering two decades (1999 to 2019). The evidence supports the hypothesis that, when it comes to voters' preferences, politicization strongly favours Eurosceptic parties. We conclude that the systemic politicization of European issues is thus a one-way street leading to the reinforcement of the constraining dissensus on the EU.

This book investigates the growing politicization of Mumsnet and its use by politicians to influence middle-class women in the UK. The site's discussion topics go far beyond traditional 'mothering' subjects and encompass politics, feminism and current affairs. Understood as a safe space for gender-critical voices, the site has spawned real-life activism and continues to be both praised and attacked for its support of free speech on controversial subjects. Sarah Pedersen investigates how Mumsnet has become a central part of a resurgent women's rights movement in the UK. She argues that its openness to discussion around this subject has allowed the site to function as a subaltern counter-public - a space where gender-critical feminists have been able to share information and make plans for action and agitation.

This book investigates the growing politicization of Mumsnet and its use by politicians to influence middle-class women in the UK. The site's discussion topics go far beyond traditional 'mothering' subjects, and encompass politics, feminism and current affairs. Understood as a safe space for gender-critical voices, the site has spawned real-life activism and continues to be both praised and attacked for its support of free speech on controversial subjects. The author investigates how Mumsnet has become a central part of a resurgent women's rights movement in the UK. She argues that its openness to discussion around this subject has allowed the site to function as a subaltern counter-public - a space where gender-critical feminists have been able to share information and make plans for action and agitation.