Case Studies
Emotional consequences, emotional reactions, participation and mobilisation
We will conduct a representative online survey in eleven countries (Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, the UK, Ireland, and Israel). Based on a sample size of approximately 1,000 respondents and three survey waves, we will gather and analyse data on how individuals and groups are emotionally affected by protective policies and communication, as well as their dispositions, values, attitudes, social identities, needs, and socio-demographic status. Additionally, the survey will include questions on political participation, trust in political institutions and democracy, as well as mobilisation both in the virtual universe and in real life, and vulnerability to misinformation and disinformation.
Moreover, we will set up focus groups to examine how individuals respond emotionally to key policy issues. Participants will be recruited in six countries (Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, the UK, and Ireland), with one focus group convened for each key issue. Each group will comprise 6-10 individuals representing the population and selected based on their engagement with the particular policy being studied. The findings will summarise key emotional themes and patterns of response emerging from the data.
Researchers: Dr. Tereza Capelos, Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Hamer, Prof. Dr. Lisete Mónico, in collaboration with all principal investigators
Protective policies and protective communication
We will collect content on protective policies from various sources in six countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the UK, and Sweden), including:
- policy documents, where governments describe why they propose or adopt a certain policy;
- political communication by political actors themselves, e.g., through press releases from ministries, parliamentary speeches, or press conferences, but also material from social media channels of political actors
- media content from traditional media (newspapers) and social media (X/Twitter)
The main aim of this study is to find the categories used to describe protective policies in different outlets, compare communication in the virtual and non-virtual space, and analyse to what extent emotional cues are used in the respective text material. We will also draw conclusions about cross-country differences by contrasting how similar policies are described and communicated.
Researchers: Prof. Dr. Georg Wenzelburger, Katja Stempel M.A., and Prof. Dr. Peter Starke
Emotional needs and their perception & the study of policy process & policy feedback
We will conduct semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and archival research in three countries (Denmark, Germany, and Israel).
The main goal is to collect data about the processes that led to the implementation of protective policies and determine the role of emotions in the policy-making process. Using process tracing, we will examine how political actors perceive the emotional needs of citizens and how emotions influence the actions of political actors themselves. This will help identify key political actors who strategically use emotions (referred to as emotional entrepreneurs) to achieve their political objectives, such as eliciting specific emotional responses in the public through political communication. Additionally, we will incorporate small vignette experiments into some of the semi-structured elite interviews. These experiments will present different emotion-laden scenarios to political actors, allowing us to quantitatively analyse their responses.
Furthermore, using semi-structured interviews and process tracing will help us assess the extent to which emotional reactions to protective policies influence the policy-making process. Consequently, our analysis of the policy process will reveal whether a new protective policy emerges as a response to an emotional reaction to a certain initial policy.
Researchers: Prof. Dr. Georg Wenzelburger, Prof. Dr. Peter Starke, and Prof. Dr. Moshe Maor
DEEP DIVE 1 Marginal populations and 'ghetto policies' (Denmark)
We will conduct ethnographic fieldwork in the neighbourhood of Vollsmose in Odense, Denmark. The goal is to analyse perceptions and emotional responses to protective policies and their implementation in a disadvantaged housing estate. In addition to interviewing those affected, we will carry out interviews with street-level bureaucrats and civil society intermediaries working in the neighbourhood to help contextualise the findings. The data will be recorded, transcribed, and supplemented with extensive field notes and visual documents.
Researchers: Prof. Dr. Peter Starke and Dr. Laust Lund Elbek
DEEP DIVE 2 Discourses about protective housing policies (Portugal)
We will conduct an in-depth analysis of protective housing policies in Portugal. The heavily financialised Portuguese housing market was significantly impacted by both the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent inflation rise following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The case study will examine how protective housing policies, established during the pandemic crisis and in response to rising inflation, were discursively constructed. This will involve drawing insights from parliamentary debates and public discussions.
Researchers: Dr. Cristiano Gianolla and Dr. Raquel Ribeiro
DEEP DIVE 3 Emotion narratives about protection (Italy)
We will conduct small semi-structured interviews to analyse the emotional needs of migrants and explore the social representations of and about migrants in Italy. Migration is especially conducive to understanding how multi-layered citizenship is emotionally entangled with protective policies at the EU and member states level, and how public debate informs affective citizenship.
Researchers: Dr. Cristiano Gianolla, Dr. Gaia Giuliani, and Miriam Jawadi
DEEP DIVE 4 Affective citizenship: Non-citizens and post-migrant citizens (Germany)
We will carry out a political ethnographic observation of empowerment workshops for migrants and BIWoCs (Black, Indigenous, Women of Color) as well as the meetings between members of migrants’ and refugees’ organisations and state employees in a case study in Frankfurt, Germany. The goal of this case study is twofold. Firstly, we seek to gain a better understanding of the emotional needs of intersectional groups of non-citizens and post-migrant women towards protective policies. Secondly, we will investigate how migrant women build trust among themselves and towards state employees to formulate emotional needs related to their protection against racial trauma, institutional violence, discrimination, racism, islamophobia, queerphobia, and sexism. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with members of the group will complement the research.
Researcher: Dr. Beatriz Carbone
DEEP DIVE 5 Affective citizenship: Ukrainian refugees (four countries)
We will conduct focus groups with Ukrainian refugees in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. Our objective is to explore possible scenarios of the meaning of protection at the European level, revealing the political processes that foster a sustainable and inclusive future for democracy and European values. The data will be meticulously analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis.
Researchers: Dr. Cristiano Gianolla and Dr. Luciana Sotero