![Hurrelmann[1]](http://carleton.ca/ces/wp-content/uploads/Hurrelmann1.jpg)
Professor Achim Hurrelmann, the Associate Director of CES, has been awarded an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada(SSHRC) to support his research project on “The Eurozone Crisis and the Politicization of European Integration”. The five-year grant is worth a total of $292,300.
The project will examine the implications that the financial crisis in the Eurozone will have for democratic politics in the European Union (EU): Will the crisis lead to an increased politicization of EU affairs, meaning that citizens follow EU politics more attentively and participate more actively in EU-related political discourse? If so, which debates and controversies will gain importance, and how will they affect the future of European integration? Do the political processes set in motion by the financial crisis threaten to tear the EU apart, or do they have the potential to facilitate further democratic development? To answer these questions, the study will analyze political discourse in four Eurozone member states — bailout recipients (Spain and Ireland) as well as contributors (Germany and Austria) — between 2008 and 2016. It will examine three discursive arenas: (a) parliaments as examples of institutional arenas at the core of the political system; (b) newspapers as examples of intermediary arenas linking decision-making institutions to the broader citizenry; and (c) focus groups composed of randomly selected participants as examples of citizen arenas in which laypeople communicate about politics. In addition to Professor Hurrelmann’s grant, four other CES scholars received either Insight Development or Insight Grants from SSHRC. Including; Jennifer Evans, Randall Germain, David Mendeloff, and Daniel Stockemer.
Further information about the grants is available at Carleton’s newsroom and at Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)