Causes, Critique and Blame: A Political Discourse Analysis of the Crisis and Blame Discourse of German and Greek Intellectuals

Abstract

Discourses of crisis are always intertwined with aspects of causal investigation, critique and moral accusations. The European and Greek crisis has triggered a debate about debt and guilt in many countries. The creditor/debtor relation between the European North and South resulted in strong tensions within the EU. Particularly, in the most and the least affected countries, Greece and Germany, multiple debates have occurred about who is responsible for the debt crisis. Therefore, rich reflections and diagnoses on debates of crisis and guilt emanate from German and Greek intellectuals which range from internal and external subject constructions, guilt accusations, self-blaming and culturalisms, to a critique of capitalism and its power elites. The chapter uses the Essex School approach of political discourse analysis developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and their students to deconstruct crisis and blame discourses of selected intellectual and public figures from both countries like Yanis Varoufakis, Nikos Dimou, Stelios Ramfos and Wolfgang Streeck.