Are Green parties part of a counter-hegemony, and, in how much do fundamentalist and pragmatists influence this? This question is addressed by the content analysis of 14 election manifestos of...Show moreAre Green parties part of a counter-hegemony, and, in how much do fundamentalist and pragmatists influence this? This question is addressed by the content analysis of 14 election manifestos of Green parties situated in the Global North. In these documents the the economic policy proposals, as well as ideological standpoints in regards to ecologism were examined. By the analysis it has become clear that Green parties do propose alternatives within the capitalist economy, yet no plans to overturn this system. Therefore, the expectation that Green parties are part of a counter-hegemony is unfounded.Show less
When questioned about the European Union’s (EU) austerity policy in Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded that the term ‘austerity’ "makes it sound like something...Show moreWhen questioned about the European Union’s (EU) austerity policy in Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded that the term ‘austerity’ "makes it sound like something truly evil. […] I call it balancing the budget”. This quote highlights the paradox that is the central thematic concern of this thesis: how economic issues and policies are represented as objectively-determined technical concerns, abstracted from and unrelated to political and ideological disputes. This thesis aims to relate the critical study of political discourse in economic crisis to a critique of the dominant social perception of economics as a scientific study: ‘scientific’ in the positivist sense as being founded upon empirical analysis, exclusive of ideational or normative dimensions. Influenced by the Gramscian concept of ‘cultural hegemony’ and related critical theories of discourse, I argue that the hegemonic scientific representation of economics - in political, media and academic discourses - constitutes an important subject for critical analysis because of its correlation with the de-politicisation of economics.Show less
