Actors In Germany Research Articles

The horror of today and the terror of tomorrow: The role of future existential risks and present-day political risks in climate activism.

In response to the urgent global climate crisis, climate activism has risen as a potent force. Decision-making regarding climate collective action includes individuals' perceptions of the anticipated future existential risks of the climate crisis (risk of inaction) and present-day political risks of climate activism (risk of action). Our research, spanning four studies (two correlational surveys and two pre-registered experiments), focused on climate activism in Germany (N = 1027). We consistently showed that heightened politicized activist identification was associated with both confrontational and non-confrontational climate collective action across four studies. Furthermore, the anticipated existential climate risk was associated with non-confrontational climate action and present-day political risk with confrontational action. Politicized climate identity remained a robust predictor across different action tactics, while the content and temporality of risk (future existential vs. present-day political) in one's environment determined the transition between engagement in confrontational and non-confrontational climate action dynamically. Nevertheless, we did not find causal links between risk perceptions and collective action. We discuss our findings in line with ESIM (Elaborated Social Identity Model), and potential explanations for the lack of causal relationship and future directions for alternative methodologies and comprehensive conceptualization of risk perceptions are suggested.

Post-homophobic imaginaries amongst the far-right in Germany and Switzerland

ABSTRACT Alongside violently opposing gender and sexual equalities, far-right parties in Western Europe have increasingly denied their political positions as homophobic. This article explores how far-right party actors in Germany and Switzerland actively use liberal discourses to advance reactionary gender and sexual politics beyond outright opposition. It queries how party actors consolidate hetero-patriarchal ideological commitments with a desire to include homosexual subjects within the parties’ respective ideologies. This study argues that reactionary actors in Germany and Switzerland are highly adaptive to the ‘post-homophobic’ discursive terrain they navigate. In doing so, openly gay and lesbian actors within far-right parties and their allies are not operating in a vacuum. They can draw on an expansive archive of mainstream political discourses, including normative ideas about the neoliberal family, a gendered economy of reproduction and the potent construction of homophobic immigrants. Our analysis thus demonstrates that liberal ideas around sexuality are not always overtly opposed to but also actively invested in for reactionary gains.

Only reflecting the industry or critical reporting? News coverage about sustainable finance in Germany

With the increasing need to channel financial capital to reach the sustainable development goals, various actors (political, financial and NGOs) are trying to place their perspectives in the public sphere. Previous research has mainly focused on the coverage of climate change in the news media, whereas the financial aspect of transitioning our society to a net-zero future has often been overseen. This study manually content-analysed 479 news articles in Germany to find out about the main topics, actors and representation of sustainable finance (SF) in the news media. Findings show that media coverage has steadily increased since 2019, with a strong focus on European politics and political actors in Germany. Whereas differences across news outlets were identified, SF was overall mainly presented in a positive tone with advantageous characteristics, pointing out the positive performance of sustainable investments. The findings imply a predominance of neo-capitalistic representations of SF in the news that forego a more critical, differentiated and diversified discussion of the role of finance and the economy in transforming our society towards carbon-neutrality.

The Introduction of Same-Sex Marriage in Germany—A Question of Conscience and/or Faith? A Case Study

On 30 June 2017, the German Bundestag voted in favor of the introduction of marriage for same-sex couples—a historic moment. Only a few days earlier, the then Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel had released the vote as a decision of conscience and thus dissolved the usual underlying factional compulsion—does this mean that rights for homosexual people are a question of personal conscience and values? Such a localization arouses the interest of religious studies to investigate how the discourse actors from the fields of politics, church and society formulate the decision of conscience as a discursive strategy in the negotiation process of same-sex marriage in Germany argumentatively and which positionings as well as descriptions of others and themselves are derived from this. The starting point is a modernity in which the actors move, understand and articulate themselves. This understanding of modernity is based on the process of a vertical transfer (Gladigow) of sociological theories of religion, among others, whereby narratives of secularization, overcoming religion (as a necessary precondition of modernity) and narratives of an opposition of religious vs. secular or religious vs. homosexual reappear as positions and arguments in the discourse. Using the approach of discursive religious studies (von Stuckrad) in conjunction with sociological discourse analysis (Keller), these processes of positioning, demarcation and negotiation based on the premises of modernity will be analyzed for the period from 2013 to 2017 on the basis of the public debate on religious, political, and social actors in Germany.

Winning the transition: Strategic state action in France and Germany amid the low carbon transition and energy shock

European economies are in flux, destabilized by the low carbon transition (LCT) and post-Ukraine energy shock. How are states responding to this instability? This article contributes to emerging environmentally focused Comparative Capitalisms (CC) scholarship by developing a novel framework for analysing how state action is shaped by the demand-competitiveness-energy nexus. We comparatively examine the cases of France and Germany since 2022, drawing upon 19 elite interviews and documentary analysis of stakeholder accounts, to advance three arguments. First, it is essential for CC frameworks to integrate energy supply dynamics to understand state action and processes of capitalist development. Second, the asymmetric impact of the LCT on France and Germany has shaped distinct state-led capitalist restructuring designed to protect and extend national competitive advantages. For Germany, this has primarily involved ‘greening’ its existing export-led model of growth, whereas French state actors are attempting to advance its interests via the ‘strategic autonomy’ (SA) agenda at the domestic and regional levels. Finally, the energy shock has initiated more interventionist state action in Germany that exposes critical instabilities in its export-led growth model. This analysis has significant implications for CC scholarship and its understanding of capitalist development by illustrating the significance of energy supply dynamics and advancing understanding of how disequilibrium can be theorized within the literature.

Innovative approaches in discussions of diabetes among healthcare sector actors in Germany.

The dramatic growth in the rate of diabetes prompts serious debates about awareness, early diagnosis, and care interventions. This Viewpoint aims to explore, from the perspectives of healthcare sector representatives, what challenges and difficulties they face in dealing with diabetes and how these can be overcome. We applied the World Café method for group discussions, which enabled us to bring together 50 stakeholders. They identified challenges at institutional and structural levels under the concepts of awareness, digitalisation, and new forms of care and shared their suggestions for feasible solutions. We learned there is a need for a diabetes map of Germany to identify risk groups and that hybrid solutions should be implemented for treatment, care, prevention, and early diagnosis, considering digital infrastructure. Also, the demand for digital innovation in the healthcare system raised concerns about information transparency and data management.

Reaching out beyond the national border? How far‐right actors in Germany and Norway evaluate transnationalism

AbstractResearch has emphasised the importance of far‐right transnationalism, in terms of both ideology and practice. Yet, the literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of how far‐right actors themselves reflect their transnational practices (or lack thereof), such as party‐level exchange, joint protest events, or online communication. Drawing on original interview data from Germany and Norway, our research unveils that while far‐right ‘nationalists’ generally endorse transnational activities, only a minority actively participates. The interviewees perceive transnational practices as opportunities for strategic learning, showcasing of collective strength, and networking. Simultaneously, they express concerns about being associated with extremists and getting entangled in conflict‐ridden areas. Theoretically, we discuss the role of ideology and everyday life as well as the importance of only limited strategic incentives for understanding far‐right transnationalism. In doing so, we draw parallels to experiences made by left‐wing actors. Moreover, we underline the potential of Granovetter's ‘strength of weak ties’ for far‐right diffusion.

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in terms of Islamic Law: a Comparative Study of Indonesia and Germany

Marriage is the behavior of creatures created by God Almighty so that life in the natural world develops well. Marriage is recommended and regulated in Islam because it has a noble purpose. As time progresses, marriages which were initially only carried out by heterosexual couples are now seeing the emergence of the phenomenon of same-sex marriages or marriages by LGBT people. What is worrying is that the LGBT phenomenon is growing rapidly in Indonesia due to increasingly open freedoms. This raises pros and cons. Same-sex marriage in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, has caused controversy and is considered illegal deviant behavior. However, there are also several countries in the world that have legalized same-sex marriage, including Germany, where Muslims are a minority. In 2017, Germany officially passed regulations regarding same-sex marriage including the right to adopt children. This research aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the topic of same-sex marriage among LGBT actors in Germany and Indonesia using a socio-legal approach. This research has the results of a study that the phenomenon of same-sex marriage by LGBT people that occurs in Germany and Indonesia are two different things and cannot be equated. Several factors behind this are the socio-cultural context which causes society's reactions and the implementation of government regulations regarding same-sex marriage to be different.

Images of Nature in Online Climate Activism in Germany and Argentina: Science, Affect and Non-Human ‘Everybodies’

Images of Nature in Online Climate Activism in Germany and Argentina: Science, Affect and Non-Human ‘Everybodies’

Public support for athlete activism in Germany: A survey experiment

Professional athletes increasingly use their popularity to speak out about political topics off and on the field. However, only few studies explore how audiences react to political speech in elite sports. Existing research has tended to focus on very few high-profile cases, usually in the United States, such as Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest. Going beyond single cases, this paper investigates factors that systematically influence public support for elite athletes’ political activism. We integrated a vignette experiment into a survey of the German population ( N = 1002). Using multi-level regression models, we analyze how public support for athlete's political acts varies with political topics, the specific political action carried out as well as the local reference of the issue in question. Moreover, we also compare the level of public support for political actions between athletes and non-athlete celebrities. Findings indicate that support is subject to conditions: Athletes receive more support when their critique refers to political topics abroad (as opposed to domestic topics) and when non-disruptive actions are chosen, for example, expressions of opinion instead of boycotts. The specific message has the strongest influence on support: actions and statements that express a progressive political claim for stricter environmental protection receive more support compared to a rather conservative claim for border security. Findings add to the state of knowledge by showing which forms of political activism meet with broad acceptance and which are likely to polarize audiences.

Confronting Anti-Muslim Racism and Islamism: An Intersectional Perspective on Muslim Women’s Activism in Germany

ABSTRACT This article explores how Muslim women’s activism unfolds in the context of anti-Muslim racism and Islamism in contemporary Germany. In particular, it identifies both gendered forms of anti-Muslim racism and Islamism encountered by Muslim women’s organizations and ways they respond to it. Drawing on theories of intersectionality and boundary making, this study identifies the most common strategies used to confront anti-Muslim racism and Islamism and their implications for intersectional boundary making. For this purpose, six expert interviews with representatives of major Muslim women’s organizations were conducted and supplemented by data from internet research and participatory observation. Based on a Grounded Theory-inspired approach, the findings show that the responses of Muslim women’s organizations to anti-Muslim racism and Islamism reconfigure group boundaries. They create more inclusive spaces in which boundary formations by religion, race, and ethnicity and gender are transcended.

Defending Europe from below: pro-European activism in Germany and the UK and its contribution to the politicisation of Europe

ABSTRACT The ‘politicisation of Europe’ has mainly been discussed with reference to Eurosceptic parties in the ‘conventional’ political arena. From the perspective of the anti-Brexit campaign in the UK and Pulse of Europe in Germany, this article focuses on grassroots pro-European mobilisation to explore the potential of politicisation ‘from below’. The two movements stood out in their ability to provoke considerable levels of grassroot mobilisation. We argue, however, that both movements reached a strategic impasse that was marked by a lack of clarity about their desired future of Europe, and which hampered their ability to generate political change. Our comparative analysis of campaign materials and interview data reveals that these movements struggled to articulate a) diagnostic frames that struck the right balance between problematising the current political situation whilst supporting the established order, and b) prognostic frames that extended much beyond the defence of the status quo (ante).

Acts of Disengagement in Border Struggles: Fugitive Practices of Refusal

AbstractThis paper explores people's acts of disengagement from activist campaign and group spaces in the context of border struggle activism in Germany and the UK as fugitive practices of refusal. These acts of disengagement took the form of remaining silent or intentionally distracted, sleeping during activist meetings, distancing oneself from activist groups during conversations, or completely withdrawing from these spaces. The paper approaches these acts, first, as practices of refusal that expose notions of the political rooted in liberal struggles over power and freedom as not only risky but also inherently self‐defeating and, second, as radically optimistic and vitalising practices of recovery and care that insist on alternative modes of thinking, practising, and experiencing sociality and the political that can inspire us to consider political agency in relation to wider abolitionist projects.

Prospects of Merger Review in the Digital Age: A Critical Look at the EU, the United States, and Germany

This article takes a critical look at merger law and practice in the EU, the United States, and Germany regarding data-related transactions. It focuses on the current legal standard and evaluates the recent decision practice in these jurisdictions. This includes the increasing implementation of data-related remedies, such as data access and data separation commitments, which have so far not been the focus of scholarly attention. On this basis, the article discusses the prospects of merger review within the framework of current policy reform debates. It concludes with recommendations for future legislative action in Germany and the EU. In particular, the legislature should implement a tightened and better suited merger review regime for dominant undertakings in digital markets.

Conceptualising Europe from the far right: The mobilisation of intellectual heritage in Germany

Against the backdrop of multiple European crises and the end of the ‘liberal consensus’ on European integration, this article explores the increasing politicisation of ‘Europe’ by the populist far right. As a case study, it focuses on how key far-right actors in Germany deploy a term from the country’s intellectual history, namely the notion of the Abendland (‘Occident’), to construct ‘Europe’ and ‘European civilisation’ according to an exclusionary and populist political agenda. Drawing from the toolboxes of conceptual history and ethnography, the interpretive analysis traces the long-term semiotic shifts of the concepts of Abendland and ‘Europe’ in the context of post-war democratisation, European integration and social liberalisation. Applying a rhetorical lens to original empirical material, the article explains how contemporary far-right players strategically ‘redescribe’ the Abendland to mobilise it in the struggle over the meaning of ‘Europe’.

Corporate control and shareholder activism in Germany: An empirical analysis of hedge fund strategies

Government-initiated reforms of the German financial system two decades ago shifted corporate control activities from universal banks to capital markets. Hedge funds took advantage of these changes by acquiring stakes in weakly governed firms. For 653 hedge fund interventions between 2000 and 2020, this study analyzes the changes in financial and operating performance and firm characteristics before and after the event. We also assess the probabilities that a firm becomes a target and that an attack creates shareholders value. On average, hedge funds increased returns, with the magnitude depending on the period, level of aggressiveness, institutional ownership, and industry. Crisis and non-crisis results differ, as hedge funds strategies are mostly successful in a rising stock market environment. Typically, hedge funds targeted smaller and more visible firms with higher sales growth, lower leverage, and higher institutional ownership. After the attack, firm profitability and cash holdings decreased, leverage increased, while investments in M&A and capex declined. This research offers new empirical evidence on the success of hedge fund strategies in Germany and on the performance of targeted firms.

\u201cAn uncomfortable topic\u201d: Health professionals' perspectives on child protection capacities, training offers and the potential need for action in Germany

BackgroundChild maltreatment, due to its high prevalence and often long-lasting (health and/or psycho-social) consequences, is one of the main reasons for global health inequalities. The medical field offers many opportunities to support affected children. This gives physicians and other health professionals the opportunity to provide protective measures and therapies to affected children at an early stage. However, the level of training concerning child protection is often too low among health professionals. This can affect the quality of care as well as providing the appropriate treatment and thus, the long-term (health) burden. The present work aims to survey the state of knowledge and capacities of health professionals regarding child protection in medicine and elicit health professionals' perspectives who absolved a child protection online course on a potential need for action in Germany.MethodsFrom June 2016 until February 2021, 3,360 health professionals were interviewed. Using quantitative and qualitative items, the questionnaire assessed demographic and professional background information as well as assessments regarding the awareness of child protection, abilities in child protection among health professionals and training offers in medicine.ResultsThe analysis indicates that the topic of child protection in medicine is not as present as the high prevalence of child maltreatment would imply. The majority (94.0%; n = 3.159) of the health professionals stated that they need more knowledge and capacities regarding child protection in medicine. More than half of the health professionals assessed the importance of the issue of child protection as low among health professionals. The reasons cited included child protection as an uncomfortable topic, an unwillingness among managers, and a lack of training on the topic.ConclusionsThere is too little awareness and importance regarding child protection in the medical field in Germany. Hence, it is difficult to ensure adequate care for those affected. Child protection topics should be mandatory in the training curricula of all health professionals, and quality standards for prevention and intervention should be implemented in medical institutions. Furthermore, networking in child protection has to be improved, and medical campaigns should address the topic to sensitize health professionals and society to the issue and to destigmatize the topic.

New Contentious Politics. Civil Society, Social Movements, and the Polarisation of German Politics

ABSTRACT In this Special Issue, we show that the study of civil society, social movements, and protest is central for assessing the current state of German politics. First, moving beyond political parties and electoral politics delivers crucial insights into the ideological, affective, and organisational structuring of emerging polarisation and cleavages. Second, the transformations in electoral politics are closely interrelated with dynamics in civil society. Building on these perspectives, the contributions to the Special Issue underline that, due to the emergence of new cleavages, Germany, like other European countries, has seen a double transformation of its landscape of political contestation: ‘New contentious politics’ is on the rise, marked by new issues and claims as well as hybrid organisational forms and close interactions between protest and electoral politics. Importantly, in contrast to long-held assumptions, protest is not the exclusive terrain of ‘progressive’ forces and not shaped by increasingly differentiated arenas of mobilisation. Based on a broad range of cases and methods, the contributions take stock of social movement and civil society activism in Germany since the 2000s, i.e. in an era of multiple crises and increasing polarisation.

Labour Struggles in Digital Capitalism: Challenges and Opportunities for Worker Organisation, Mobilisation, and Activism in Germany

In this article, we investigate labour struggles under the condition of digital capitalism. The main research question this paper addresses is: How do German unions evaluate and respond to the rapidly accelerating digitalisation of economy and work? Based on a series of interviews with union representatives in Germany, we trace recent developments in an increasingly digitised economy and outline challenges and opportunities for unions. Our findings show that the large-scale deployment of digital technologies fragments the workforce, reduces social standards, worsens working conditions, and exacerbates power imbalances to the detriment of the employed. These disadvantages are only insufficiently met with new opportunities to raise public awareness and connect with and mobilise workers by means of digital communication technologies. Our study suggests a growing significance of technological expertise for unions, a need to meet global capital with enhanced international and regional cooperation among labour organisations, and the importance of uniting established unions and grassroots workers’ movements in shared struggles to improve the situation of workers under technology-enhanced conditions of globalised exploitation and control.

Why do companies become hedge fund targets? Evidence from shareholder activism in Germany

Regulatory changes in Germany since the beginning of the new millennium shifted corporate control activities from banks to capital markets. Hedge funds exploited these governance changes by acquiring equity stakes in weakly governed firms, which subsequently outperformed, except during the global financial crisis. For 653 shareholder activism events over the period 2000–2020, we observe that hedge funds are more likely to target smaller firms with less ownership concentration, with higher financial visibility, higher sales growth, higher profitability, lower leverage, greater diversification and higher institutional ownership. Although hedge funds became less aggressive, the optimal strategy protecting management against activism is to create shareholder value.