The Communicative Construction of Europe ― Cultures of Political Discourse, Public Sphere, and the Euro Crisis

With the Eurocrisis, the European public sphere did not collapse but remained multi-segmented in nature, its legitimacy still the subject of fierce debate. Based on a 12-year long project – comparing Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom – this book empirically demonstrates the contested character of the communicative construction of Europe. It does so by combining an investigation of journalistic practices with long-term content analysis of print media, an examination of citizens' online interactions and audience studies with European citizens.

Andreas Hepp is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, Germany. His main research areas are media and communication theory, media sociology, mediatization research, transnational and transcultural communication, cultural studies, media change, and methods of media culture research.
Monika Elsler is a Research Associate at the Centre for Communications, Media and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, Germany. Her main research areas are transnational and transcultural communication.
Swantje Lingenberg is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, Germany. Her main research areas are cultural studies, public sphere theory, transnational and transcultural communication, audience research.
Anne Mollen is a Research Associate at the Centre for Communications, Media and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, Germany. Her research focuses on transcultural and transnational communication, political online communication and audience research on media technologies.
Johanna Moller is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, Germany. Her main research areas are public sphere research, transcultural political communication, political celebrity and the politicization of media technologies.
Anke Offerhaus is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, Germany. Her main research areas are journalism research, public sphere research with a focus on European Public Sphere, media sociology, media and religion, media appropriation with emphasis on grief.