Ulrike Zschache

Conceptualizing Path Dependence through Discourse Analysis: The Case of Seasonal Farm workers in Germany

This article introduces discourse analysis as a theoretical concept and an empirical methodology that may enable the endogenization of path creation and path breaking changes in conventional models of political path dependencies. Economic criteria such as rents created by a policy do not always provide a comprehensive explanation for path dependent political decisions. Discourse theory implies that specific interpretative schemata and narratives, such as story lines in the mass media, heavily influence the political discourse. Discourses themselves exercise a constitutive power that constrains decision-making processes and, thus, influence the ensuing policy creation path. Hence, discourses must be taken into account when political path creation is analysed. In this paper we trace over time individual story lines that represent important elements of the discourse underlying the restriction of seasonal farm workers from central and eastern European countries in Germany. We illustrate how dominant speakers and their story lines have been and currently are interacting to shape this policy.

Solidarity Activism in Germany: What Explains Different Types and Levels of Engagement?

The chapter investigates patterns of solidarity activity in Germany regarding the national, European and non-European level as well as refugees, unemployed and disabled people. We use multinomial regression to test a number of factors, including socio-economic variables but also subjective positioning, ideational factors, motifs and political beliefs. We find only limited socio-economic patterns and thus emphasize that solidarity is shaped by feelings of attachment. And attachment to different groups differs: it is highest towards disabled people and lowest, comparing our three issue fields, towards refugees. Our results indicate that solidarity depends not only on spatial proximity but also on social proximity. Political beliefs, too, matter as they seem to indicate deservingness of particular groups. This explains the different levels of solidarity towards the investigated groups.

Reflecting the Global? The Common Agricultural Policy and Its Perception in Public Media Discourse

The paradigm shift in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is an instructive case to study the Europeanization of national media discourses. Yet, the symbolic influence of CAP reform cannot be sufficiently understood without considering its embeddedness in global policy frameworks. Hence, by means of content analysis, this paper aims to elucidate the impact of both global and EU farm-policy ideas on domestic debates. In particular, it seeks to reveal to what extent the multiple authorship behind the reform is reflected in discussion. Thus, the focus is on the institutional entrepreneurs with a say in the media, the ideas promoted and discursive interrelations.