The Communicative Construction of Europe

"With admirable conceptual clarity and truly impressive empirical richness, Andreas Hepp and his colleagues offer a compelling portrait of a transnational Europe and of the EU as an ongoing and contested communicative construction. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the volume inserts itself in the heart of contemporary debates about the EU and its crisis. With its analytic precision, it is essential not only for students and researchers involved with questions about a European public sphere, but also for policy- and decision makers, journalists, and concerned citizens. This book represents the new benchmark for studies in this area." - Peter Dahlgren, Lund University, Sweden "A prolific milieu founded by the late Bernhard Peters at the University of Bremen has long been a leading centre for the development of public sphere research, theoretically and empirically. In The Communicative Construction of Europe, Andreas Hepp and his colleagues deliver another solid contribution to this tradition. Combining a variety of methodologies the research presented in this book both reconceptualises the notion of a European public sphere and provides ample empirical evidence that such a phenomenon actually exists and becomes increasingly important. A landmark contribution to the field, it is also an invitation to further scholarly and political discussions." - Jostein Gripsrud, University of Bergen, Norway "This book presents a powerful argument against the doomsday narrative about the EU in the aftermath of the Euro crisis. Based on an impressive array of empirical data from 1982-2013, The Communicative Construction of Europe demonstrates that the Euro crisis has accelerated rather than reversed the ongoing Europeanization of public spheres despite continuing national segmentation. Required reading for anybody interested in contemporary European affairs!" - Thomas Risse, Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany "In a major step forward for the empirical analysis of communication repertoires, the authors map the ways in which nationally anchored European citizens form transcultural communication repertoires, which are in turn related in complex ways to varieties of public connection to the European public sphere." - Kim Christian Schroder, Roskilde University, Denmark

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 Moeller 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.

1. Introduction 2. Approaching The Communicative Construction Of Europe: Cultures Of Political Discourse, European Public Sphere, And The Euro Crisis 3. Journalistic Practices: National And European Cultures Of Political Discourse 4. Representing Europe In The Press: The Multi-Segmented European Public Sphere 5. Citizens' Online Engagement: The Euro Crisis In Online Forums 6. Appropriating Europe: Communication Repertoires, European Public Connections, And The Euro Crisis 7. Challenging Europe: Understanding And Overcoming The Euro Crisis 8. Conclusion: The Contested Communicative Construction Of Europe