Political Conflict in Western Europe

Analyzes the effects of globalization on the restructuring of politics in Western Europe over the past three decades.

Hanspeter Kriesi (Author), Edgar Grande (Author), Martin Dolezal (Author), Marc Helbling (Author), Dominic Höglinger (Author), Swen Hutter (Author), Bruno Wüest (Author)

9781107625945, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 July 2012

368 pages, 34 b/w illus. 42 tables
22.7 x 15.1 x 1.7 cm, 0.58 kg

'This book is required reading for Europeanists. Kriesi, Grande and their co-authors offer an analysis of political cleavages in Europe that is simultaneously comprehensive, subtle, rigorous, and convincing.' Gary Marks, Burton Craige Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Chair in Multilevel Governance, VU University Amsterdam

What are the consequences of globalization for the structure of political conflicts in Western Europe? How are political conflicts organized and articulated in the twenty-first century? And how does the transformation of territorial boundaries affect the scope and content of political conflicts? This book sets out to answer these questions by analyzing the results of a study of national and European electoral campaigns, protest events and public debates in six West European countries. While the mobilization of the losers in the processes of globalization by new right populist parties is seen to be the driving force of the restructuring of West European politics, the book goes beyond party politics. It attempts to show how the cleavage coalitions that are shaping up under the impact of globalization extend to state actors, interest groups and social movement organizations, and how the new conflicts are framed by the various actors involved.

Part I. Theory and Methods: 1. The transformative power of globalization and the structure of political conflict in Western Europe Edgar Grande and Hanspeter Kriesi
2. Exploring the new cleavage across arenas and public debates: design and methods Martin Dolezal, Swen Hutter and Bruno Wüest
Part II. The Development of the 'Integration-Demarcation' Cleavage: 3. Participation and party choice: comparing the demand-side of the new cleavage across arenas Martin Dolezal and Swen Hutter
4. Restructuring the national political space: the supply side of national electoral politics Hanspeter Kriesi
5. Restructuring the European political space: the supply side of European electoral politics Martin Dolezal
6. Restructuring protest politics: the terrain of cultural winners Swen Hutter
7. Congruence, counterweight, or different logics? Comparing electoral and protest politics Swen Hutter
Part III. Public Debates: The Articulation of the New Cleavage in Detail: 8. The impact of arenas in public debates over globalization Marc Helbling, Dominic Höglinger and Bruno Wüest
9. Culture versus economy: the framing of public debates over issues related to globalization Dominic Höglinger, Bruno Wüest and Marc Helbling
10. Actor configurations in the public debates on globalization Bruno Wüest, Marc Helbling and Dominic Höglinger
Part IV. Conclusion: 11. Conclusion: how much change can we observe and what does it mean? Edgar Grande.

Subject Areas: EU & European institutions [JPSN2], Comparative politics [JPB], Social & political philosophy [HPS]