Promi-Protest in Österreich

Diese Studie befasst sich damit wie prominente Personen aus dem kulturellen Feld gezielt zur Unterstützung von Protestereignissen oder Protestbewegungen eingesetzt werden, um die Medienaufmerksamkeit auf das jeweilige Protestthema zu lenken. Die mediale Öffentlichkeit ist dabei eine zentrale Machtressource für Protestbewegungen und ermöglicht im Idealfall Druck auf politischer Ebene auszuüben. Der Fokus bisheriger Studien zu Prominenten und Protest lag auf der Ausarbeitung eines Theoriefundaments. Die Methodik beschränkte sich auf anekdotische Untersuchungen einzelner Protestbewegungen. Die vorliegende Studie überprüft die Theorie zu Promi-Protest erstmals empirisch und über einen längeren Zeitraum hinweg. Im Zentrum der Analyse steht die Rolle von prominenten Persönlichkeiten bei politischem Protest und ob bzw. wie sich Protestereignisse mit Prominenten von Ereignissen ohne diese unterscheiden. Untersucht werden zum einen die berufliche Herkunft der Prominenten und ihre unmittelbare Funktion im Rahmen der Protestereignisse. Zum anderen werden Promi- und Nicht-Promi-Protestereignissen anhand der Protest-Themen, dem Gewaltpotenzial, der Medienresonanz und der TeilnehmerInnenzahlen miteinander verglichen. Grundlage der Untersuchung ist eine quantitative Inhaltanalyse von Zeitungsartikeln zu Protestereignissen in Österreich. Hierfür wurde eine Vollerhebung in der Tageszeitung „der Standard“ von Herbst 2006 bis Herbst 2008 durchgeführt. Der Großteil der Promi-Protest-Theorie konnte im Rahmen dieser Studie bestätigt werden. Überraschend waren die Ergebnisse der Medienresonanzanalyse und jene zur Herkunft der protestierenden Prominenten. Zum einen hatte Promi-Protest keinen messbaren Effekt auf die analysierten Medien. Zum anderen nehmen in Österreich mehrheitlich Prominente aus dem Bereich der Hochkultur eine sehr zenrale Rolle bei Protestereignissen ein. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie bestätigen, dass Promi-Protest in Österreich vorhanden und relevant ist. Die berufliche Herkunft und die aktive Funktion von Prominenten lassen zudem auf einen markanten Unterschied in den strategischen Hintergründen von Promi-Protest zwischen Theorie und Empirie schließen.This study is centered on the strategic use of celebrity supporters by protest organizers in the aim of attracting media attention to their protest event or their protest movement. Media attention is an essential resource of power for protest movements, because ideally it allows them to exert pressure on the political level and therefore is a way to reach their goal. The focus of previous studies on celebrities and political protest was to draw up its theoretical foundation. The methodology was limited to anecdotal studies of individual protest movements - mostly in the United States. This study examines the theory of celebrity protests for the first time empirically, analytically and over a longer period of time. Central to the analysis is the role of celebrities in political protests in Austria, contrasting protest events with celebrity supporters with those without. First, this study examines the professional background of the celebrities and in what way they participated in protest events. Second, it compares the two types of events (with/without celebrities) in relation to the protest issues, presence of violence, media response, and number of participants in each. The basis of the study is a quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles on protest events, also known as a protest event analysis. A census was performed of all newspaper articles in the newspaper "Der Standard" about protest events in Austria from autumn 2006 to autumn 2008. The bulk of the original hypothesis was confirmed in this study. However, the media response of the events and professional background of the protesting celebrities did not turn out as expected: Celebrity protest had no measurable effect on the media and the vast majority of celebrity protesters in Austria came from high culture. The results of the study confirm that celebrity protests in Austria exist and are relevant. The origin and surprisingly active function of celebrities also suggest a striking difference in the strategy of celebrity protest than what is stated in many theoretical works and the empirical evidence in Austria

Was Austria’s presidential election really a vote against populism?

Austria’s presidential election on 4 December saw a surprisingly large victory for Alexander Van der Bellen over Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the populist right-wing FPÖ. However, as Eva Zeglovits, Hubert Sickinger and Jakob-Moritz Eberl write, the level of support received by Hofer suggests the FPÖ could nevertheless be well placed to win the next federal elections

Austria election preview: Sebastian Kurz and the rise of the Austrian 'anti-party'

Austria goes to the polls on 15 October, with the centre-right ÖVP, led by 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, currently ahead in the polls. Jakob-Moritz Eberl, Eva Zeglovits and Hubert Sickinger provide a comprehensive preview of the vote, writing that although polling is consistent with the idea the ÖVP and Kurz are the probable election winners, a noteworthy number of voters are still undecided. Kurz becoming the next chancellor is thus not as set in stone as Angela Merkel’s win in Germany was

Qualitative Interviews with Irregular Migrants in Times of COVID-19: Recourse to Remote Interview Techniques as a Possible Methodological Adjustment

Forschungsdesigns erfordern Flexibilität. Wichtig ist aber, dass Anpassungen nicht immer ausschließlich mit Nachteilen verbunden sein müssen. In dieser Forschungsnotiz möchten wir unsere Überlegungen zu den Auswirkungen von COVID-19 auf die Durchführung von qualitativen Interviews mit irregulären Migrant*innen veranschaulichen. Die Ausführungen wurden in Anlehnung an eines unserer eigenen Projekte entwickelt, bei dem sich die Feldarbeit derzeit in der Planungsphase befindet. Aufgrund ihrer möglichen Relevanz für ähnliche Projekte möchten wir unsere methodischen Überlegungen teilen. Wir liefern Anmerkungen zur aktuellen Situation irregulärer Migrant*innen in verschiedenen (europäischen) Ländern sowie eine Einschätzung der methodischen Durchführbarkeit von qualitativen Face-to-Face-Interviews mit irregulären Migrant*innen und möglicher Alternativen zu dieser Methode (insbesondere verschiedener Formen von Ferninterviews). Abschließend kommen wir auf unsere Entscheidung zu sprechen, mit einem Mixed-Mode-Ansatz zu arbeiten, der es uns erlaubt, verschiedene Fernbefragungsmodi zu nutzen, und damit die nötige Flexibilität zur Anpassung an den Verlauf derartiger gesundheitlicher und gesellschaftlicher Krisen bietet.Research designs require flexibility, and adjustments made to the designs do not always have to lead exclusively to disadvantages. In this research note, we would like to share our reflections on the impact of COVID-19 on the conduct of qualitative interviews with irregular migrants. Since these considerations were developed in close connection with one of our own projects, in which fieldwork is currently in the planning phase, we believe they may be relevant to similar projects. We include a brief remark on the current situation of irregular migrants in different (European) countries, as well as an assessment of the methodological feasibility of qualitative face-to-face interviews with irregular migrants and possible alternatives to this method such as remote and online interview formats. We conclude with insights on our recommendation to rely on a mixed-mode approach, which allows us to use various remote interview modes, thus providing the necessary flexibility to adapt to profound health and social crises such as COVID-19

Discontentment trumps Euphoria: Interacting with European Politicians' migration-related messages on social media

We investigate user engagement with politicians' migration discourses on social media. In particular, we study the effects of message framing and support base attitudes on interactions on Facebook and Twitter in five European countries. Enriching automated analysis of social media content with survey data in a multilevel negative binomial regression approach, findings show that migration-related messages tend to elicit more interactions than other kinds of messages. Furthermore, the presence of a security frame in a migration-related message positively relates to user engagement. However, additional analyses suggest that the relevance of these frames differ between different political parties. In fact, a message gets an even higher number of interactions, when the dimension of the migration issue included in those framed messages is perceived more negatively by a party's support base. The findings have important implications for communication strategies of political actors and the state of migration discourses on social media

‘Europe was a dream for me. This dream came true but remains unfulfilled at the same time’:Navigating life aspirations among forced migrants in Austria and Italy

In this article, we analyse the interplay between forced migrants’ retrospective expectations and their current experiences in the host country, and how this interaction informs their aspirations in relation to their potential life trajectories. By zooming in on the Austrian and Italian cases derived from qualitative data, this article investigates forced migrants’ retrospective perspectives on the ‘good life’ in (imagined) Europe and their experienced-informed perspectives of the host country context—reception policies—after migration by tracing individuals’ self-reported perceptions of life aspirations over the course of their migration journey. By applying the aspirations-capability framework, our analysis traces what ‘happens’ after people have submitted their asylum applications. In this way, this research sheds light on the process of adapting to a new context with gravely restricted capabilities and how this affects people’s life aspirations. By doing so, we demonstrate that aspirations are not only dynamic and flexible, but capabilities also change due to the structural confines of national asylum procedures. This study therefore brings an innovative perspective to study life aspirations and capabilities by showing the importance of reflecting not only aspirations but also the (in)capability of acting in the present which informs the process of revisiting original life aspirations for individuals seeking asylum. This process begins after the arrival, based on changes in their capabilities, specifically the national asylum structures that confine them

Oscillating Between Hope and Despair:Understanding Migrants’ Reflections on Ambivalence in ‘Transit’

This paper investigates the under-explored question of how migrants in so-called ‘transit countries’ make sense of migration aspirations. Drawing from recent scholarship on migration-related ambivalence, we focus on how people reflect on the past and present of their migration aspirations, employing a migrant-centered approach. Based on semi-structured interviews with refugees in Libya and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as complementary expert interviews, we find that ambivalence, which (re-)shapes migration aspirations, is a necessary reaction to the structures of uncertainty installed in current European externalization measures beyond EU borders. By adopting a migrant-centered approach and taking into account the multidimensional and processual nature of ambivalence, our research contributes to a better understanding of migrants as self-critical and reflective actors facing the challenges of making decisions in situations of uncertainty; thus, ambivalence is produced in a dialectic interplay between migrants’ agency and the opportunities/limitations of changing structures that surround them which, in turn, informs the interplay between forward and backward migration aspirations

Menschen schützen und unterstützen: warum Solidarität weiterhin gefragt ist in der Pandemie

Seit Beginn der Pandemie hat sich unser Fachwissen sowohl über die Ausbreitung des Virus als auch über Präventionsmaßnahmen vervielfacht. Tests, Impfungen und Therapien sind verfügbar und viele Fragestellungen durch die Erkenntnisse der letzten Jahre gelöst worden. Trotzdem bleibt die Entscheidungsfindung für Interventionen im Sinne der öffentlichen Gesundheit weiterhin eine Herausforderung. Dafür kann die unabhängige und interdisziplinäre Wissenschaft weiterhin wichtige Impulse setzen und Perspektiven liefern. Dieses Papier stellt einige zentrale Punkte zusammen, die aus einem intensiven Diskursprozess entstanden sind, der in den letzten Monaten unter den angeführten Expert*innen und Wissenschafter*innen verschiedener Disziplinen stattgefunden hat. Es besteht der Grundkonsens, dass eine gesundheitspolitische und ethische Notwendigkeit besteht, den Schutz jener Menschen im Blick zu behalten, welche anfälliger für schwere COVID-19 Krankheitsverläufe, als auch Long Covid sind, sowie deren Umfeld und generell im Hinblick auf Gesundheitsfragen vorsichtig agierende Personen. Dieses Papier soll Bewusstsein für die Thematik stärken, und Entscheidungsträger:innen sensibilisieren und darin unterstützen, diese Personenkreise in ihren Überlegungen im Blick zu behalten

Coalitions in the news: How saliency and tone in news coverage influence voters\u2019 preferences and expectations about coalitions

Past research has shown that media coverage during election campaigns influences citizen preferences and expectations about parties and political candidates. Very little is known, however, about the effect of media coverage on post-electoral coalition preferences and expectations. This is surprising, given that speculations about post-electoral coalition building are an essential part of election campaigns in all multiparty systems. This paper investigates the consequences that coalitions' media saliency and tone have on voter preferences and expectations about these potential coalitions. Using media and panel data from the 2013 German and Austrian election campaigns, we find that media coverage has substantial effects on voter perceptions although the effects differ in strength between the two countries. These findings have important implications for our understanding of media effects, voter expectations and campaign strategies

Divided by the Jab: On the Nature, Origins, and Consequences of COVID-19 Vaccination Identities

Despite scientific consensus regarding the dangers of SARS-CoV-2 as well as the safety and effectiveness of available vaccinations, public response to the COVID-19 pandemic has become increasingly politicised. We argue that the debate surrounding COVID-19 vaccines provided the basis for identity-based affective polarization, with positive social identities and negative out-group stereotyping developing around support or opposition to the vaccines. This study uses panel survey data to investigate the nature, origins, and consequences of COVID-19 vaccination-related affective polarization in Austria. The results show that vaccination identities are clearly identifiable and are related to extensive stereotyping of in- and out-group members. Moreover, vaccination identities are more strongly related to political orientations than the decision to get vaccinated itself. Importantly, vaccination identities help us understand downstream attitudes, preferences, and behaviours related to the pandemic, even when controlling for other important predictors such as partisanship for anti-vaccine parties and vaccination status