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WiSe 13/14: The End of the European Dream? People's beliefs on the causes and solutions of the European crisis and their readiness for transnational solidarity

Jürgen Gerhards / Marta Kozlowska

Hinweise für Studierende

In the winter term 2013/14 three research placements will be offered. All of them will be presented at a joint session on Monday, 14. Oct 2013, 2-4 p.m., in room 22/G, at Ihnestr. 22. The aim of the first session is to provide a better overview of the thematic scope and methodological focus of each course and to secure an equal distribution of participants in the placements. Those students who are already decided which of the three courses they want to take can register in campus management before the first meeting. Schließen

Kommentar

Context: The ongoing Euro crisis turned out to create one of the biggest tests the European Union is to stand since its creation. The dissolution of the EU, unthinkable before, is no more an unrealistic threat. Paradoxically, the proposed way of overcoming the crisis - via bail-outs and Euro rescue funds - resulted not in less, but even more Europe: the wealthy Eurozone countries provide enormous financial resources as loans and loan guarantees for the indebted ones. Even if one assumes that the donor countries act oriented on their own interest, it is a precedence for so far unknown intra-EU reallocation of resources in the form of the European stability mechanism, and therefore can be seen as a manifestation of a cross-border solidarity. On the other hand, the austerity measures imposed by the donor countries on the benefiting indebted member states reach deeply into their internal affairs and can be interpreted as a violation of their sovereignty rights. Research problem: In the focus of the research seminar stays not the analysis of the Eurozone crisis itself, but rather the reconstruction of the perceptions and interpretations of the crisis by the citizens. What causes and solutions do they see? To what extend do citizens of one state accept that their state shows solidarity with another country and provides financial support for it? To what extend do they interpret the enforcement of the financial discipline and savings principle as an infringement of a state's internal matters and sovereignty? Such and similar research questions should be formulated by the students themselves and then answered empirically. Methods: The research problems should be analyzed with the use of qualitative methods, especially with in-depth personal interviews as well as focus groups with citizens from various EU member states. The collected data should be interpreted based on the grounded theory approach. For the analysis the MAXQDA software will be used. Language: The discussions in class and individual consultations can take place in English or in German, depending on the language skills and/or preference of the participants. However, at least passive German knowledge is necessary, as some of the literature is available in German only. As the qualitative interviews for one's own project would have to be conducted in Berlin, it is most likely that knowledge of German is an asset, if the respondents would not be English speaking foreigners. Exam (15 ECTS): Research report (ca. 10.000 words); deadline: March 31, 2014 Schließen