Trivializing inequality by narrating facts: a discourse analysis of contending storylines in Germany

ABSTRACT

The global financial crisis (2008–2009) sparked major controversies in Germany. Beyond raising regulatory issues, renewed focus was placed on economic inequality in media and politics. Political science has hitherto primarily dealt with inequality by examining the compatibility of democracy and capitalism. However, analyses that reconstruct this discourse, and explain why controversies have failed to shift social policy, are rare. In an attempt to fill this gap, the German inequality discussion is analyzed through the Hajerian concepts of storylines and discourse coalitions. The results show the discussion is dominated by an ordoliberal storyline that trivializes rising inequality. Additionally, two critical storylines are identified. While the first critical position claims inequality is problematic, it is narrated as a challenge that can be remedied through established reforms and personnel changes. Lastly, the third storyline interprets economic inequality as a fundamental threat to an already deteriorating democratic order. Based on a discourse analysis of interviews as well as text corpora of newspaper articles (Welt, ZEIT, taz) and Bundestag speeches, the three storylines are reconstructed and analyzed. Ultimately, the focus on abstract measurements and figures disregards individuals’ subjective experiences with inequality, thereby detaching the discourse from the everyday challenges the critical storylines seek to address.

KEYWORDS:

• Discourse analysis
• critical policy analysis
• Germany
• financial crisis
• economic inequality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. For comments on this paper, I would like to thank Frank Gadinger, Hanna Lena Buschan, Ray Hebestreit, Simon Gehlhar, Karl-Rudolf Korte, Taylan Yildiz, and the NRW School of Governance at the University of Duisburg-Essen. A special thanks to Andreas Blätte for providing access to the parliamentary corpus. All translations are mine.

2. Economic inequality is understood as the extent to which income and wealth are distributed unequally in society.

3. For more information on the Hans Böckler Foundation research project ‘Politikmanagement im Ungleichheitsdiskurs’: https://www.boeckler.de/11145.htm?projekt=S-2015-919-6 (in German).

4. The selected terms are: distribution struggle (Verteilungskampf), wealth inequality, unequal wealth, unequal wages, unequal incomes, redistribution, social cohesion (soziales Miteinander), benefits gravy train (soziale Hängematte), upward mobility, downward mobility, economic inequality, wage inequality, social inequality, gap between rich and poor (die Schere or die Kluft zwischen Arm und Reich), merit-based justice (Leistungsgerechtigkeit), class-based society (Klassengesellschaft), fight against poverty, income disparities, income inequality, income and wealth, creation of equal opportunities (Chancengleichheit), established equal opportunities (Chancengerechtigkeit), drifting apart (Auseinanderdriften).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hans Böckler Foundation [2015-919-6].

Notes on contributors

Christopher Smith Ochoa

Christopher Smith Ochoa is a doctoral candidate at the NRW School of Governance of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. His research focuses on bridging the gap between discourse, narrative, socioeconomic inequality, and political economy. He is currently a doctoral scholarship holder of the Hans Böckler Foundation for his dissertation on narratives in the German economic inequality discourse in the context of the global financial crisis.