Politicisation, Democratisation and EU Identity National EU Discourses in Germany and France

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wiesner, Claudia, author.

Series:

Issn Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

European Union countries--Politics and government--21st century.

European Union countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (328 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford Taylor & Francis 2024

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What is it that unites the European Union as a polity? Why is it necessary to democratise the EU? Can EU politicisation help democratising the EU? Why do EU citizens in referenda seemingly vote against the EU? And how can a European identity develop? To tackle these questions, this book makes a theoretical, conceptual and empirical contribution to the study of EU politicisation, democratisation, identity formation, and the ways these three are related to one another. The results of a thorough comparative analysis of two prototypical cases, namely French and German national EU discourses and in particular the discourses on the Treaty on a Constitution for Europe (TCE) in 2005, are discussed in relation to more current events such as Brexit and the French elections of 2022. The book thus develops key concepts and theoretical models and delivers profound findings on EU democratisation, identity, politicisation and contestation and their interrelations. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union studies/politics, democratic theory, discourse analysis and more broadly to comparative politics. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Contents:

Cover

Endorsements

Half Title

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Preface and Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

1. Politicisation, Democratisation, European Identity, and National EU Discourses

1.1. Conceptualising Politicisation

1.2. European Identity, EU Democratisation, and National EU Discourses

1.3. The 2005 Discourses on the Ratification of the Constitutional Treaty in Germany and France

1.3.1. Research Question and Research Design of the Empirical Study

1.3.2. Methodology

1.3.3. Cases

1.3.4. Research Material

1.4. State of the Research

1.4.1. Added Value

1.5. Structure of the Book

2. Democratisation of the EU, European Identity, and National EU Discourses

2.1. Democratisation and Democratic Identity in the EU

2.1.1. The EU as a Polity in Need of Democratisation?

2.1.2. A Broader Picture on the EU's Democratic Deficit

2.1.3. The Question of the EU Demos

2.1.4. Democracy and Difference

2.1.5. Foundational Theses

2.2. What Is European Identity?

2.2.1. What Is Collective Identity and How Does It Form?

2.2.2. Theorising and Operationalising European Identity

2.2.3. The Individual Dimension of European Identity

2.2.4. European Identity as a Pattern of Meaning

2.2.5. Working Definitions of European Identity and Its Analysis

2.2.6. The Construction of European Identity - Results of the Theory Integration

2.3. Research Questions

2.3.1. Objectives and Design of the Study

3. Methodology and Research Design

3.1. Methodology and Situating of the Study

3.1.1. Discourse-Analytical Approaches: An Attempt to Compare Theories

3.1.2. Discourses and Their Contexts - To Be Studied or Not to Be Studied?

3.1.3. Politics, Society, and Discourse: Foucault, Mouffe, and Laclau.

3.1.4. Studying Discourse Context

3.1.5. Situating the Discourse-Analytical Approach

3.1.6. The Comparative Approach

3.2. Operationalisation and Research Design

3.2.1. Development of the Comparative Discourse Analysis Design

3.2.2. The Qualitative Techniques

3.2.3. Case and Material Selection

3.2.4. Steps of Coding and Theoretical Sampling

3.2.5. Proceeding of the Analysis

3.2.6. Heuristics: Summary of the Assumptions Guiding the Research and the Research Questions

4. France: The Discourse

4.1. Course, Reference Levels, Topics, Actors, and Rules of the Discourse

4.1.1. Course of the Discourse, Intensity, and Significant Events

4.1.2. Actors and Rules of the Discourse

4.2. Motifs, Arguments, and References of the Discourse

4.2.1. France and Its European Mission: Distanced Multi-Level Reference

4.2.2. …but "No" to the Government: The Domestic Role of the Referendum and the Discourse

4.2.3. Abstract, Meta, But: Variants of "Yes"

4.2.4. Jointly against the Treaty and against the Elites: The "No" Motifs

4.2.5. Shared Motifs, Arguments, and References - What Did Both Sides Do?

4.3. Concluding Considerations on the Case of France

4.3.1. Conclusion on the Research Questions

4.3.2. Concluding Considerations on the French Case

5. Germany: The Discourse

5.1. Course, Actors, and Rules of the Discourse

5.1.1. Course of the Discourse, Development of Contributions, and Significant Events

5.1.2. Actors and Rules of the Discourse

5.1.3. A Central Rule of the German Discourse - the Silencing Strategy

5.2. Motifs, Arguments, and Reference Levels of the Discourse

5.2.1. European Domestic Politics: Openness of the Discourse and Multi-Level References

5.2.2. Demos, Citizens, and Identity-Formation

5.2.3. Continuity and Change in the German EU Narrative.

5.3. Concluding Considerations on the Case of Germany

6. The Discourses in Comparison

6.1. Course, Actors, Rules, Reference Levels, Topics, Motifs, Arguments, and References of the Discourses in Comparison

6.1.1. Course of the Discourses

6.1.2. Actors

6.1.3. Rules

6.1.4. Reference Levels

6.1.5. Subject Areas/Topics, Motifs, Arguments, References

6.2. Research Questions - Answers in a Comparative Perspective

6.3. Concluding Overview

7. The Contexts in Comparison

7.1. Context Conditions in Germany and France: An Overview

7.2. The Role of Political Systems and Their Changes

7.3. The Party Systems and European Integration

7.4. Citizen Attitudes to European Integration

7.5. Central Motifs of National Identity Narratives and Previous EU Discourses

7.5.1. Discourse, Conception, Narrative

7.6. Contexts and Discoursive (Non-)Success of EU Criticism

7.7. How Does EU Criticism Obtain Discoursive Success? A Process Model

8. National EU Discourses and European Identity

8.1. Did the Two Discourses Work as a Means of European Identity Construction?

8.1.1. Constructing Difference-Affirming Multi-Level Identity?

8.2. What Is Missing in the Construction Process of European Identity?

8.3. Summary and Research Outlook

8.3.1. Chances and Limits of European Identity Formation

8.3.2. Research Outlook

9. Towards the Critical Informed EU Citizen

9.1. The Brexit Referendum Discourse

9.2. Populism, Euroscepticism, and Legitimate Critique - (Not Only) Labelling Questions

9.3. A Crisis of French Political Culture

9.4. EU Politicisation and EU Democratisation

9.5. Towards the Critical Informed EU Citizen

Index.

Notes:

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-03-252846-X

1-04-000003-7

1-003-40870-2

9781003408703

OCLC:

1417201387