Signs of crisis and recovery: Geographical imaginaries in press coverage of the financial crisis in the UK and German press 2008–2009

Abstract

This article examines the role of models of capitalism in the media coverage surrounding the economic crisis in the period 2008–2009 in the UK and German press, during the outbreak of the crisis and the beginning of the ‘recovery’ from it. Models of capitalism are conceived of as ‘geographical imaginaries’, discursive entities by means of which nations mediate their economic fortunes vis-à-vis global capitalism. By drawing upon historical narratives and stereotypical attributions of national character, these models legitimize courses of political and economic action. A Critical Discourse Analysis of media texts is carried out in selected periods of the crisis in these two countries whose economic models have been held to be opposing ‘geographical adversaries’ in the history of neoliberalism. The article draws conclusions about the nature of ‘recovery’ from the point of view of such geographical imaginaries, and their importance in the continued dominance of neoliberalism.

Keywords:

• crisis
• geographical imaginary
• model of capitalism
• neoliberalism
• teleology

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Institute of Management, Governance and Society Research, Robert Gordon University, for empirical data collection.

Notes

The word ‘ordoliberal’ is a composite term of the German word ‘Ordnung’ and liberal, indicating its origins in a combination of free market and state intervention to create order in the economy.

The statement of the G20 leaders (G20 Leaders’ Statement, 2009) after the Pittsburgh summit on 24–25 September 2009 contained the sentence ‘We meet in the midst of a critical transition from crisis to recovery to turn the page on an era of irresponsibility … Our forceful response helped stop the dangerous, sharp decline in global activity and stabilize financial markets. Industrial output is now rising in nearly all our economies. International trade is starting to recover. Our financial institutions are raising needed capital, financial markets are showing a willingness to invest and lend, and confidence has improved’ (G20 Leaders Statement: The Pittsburgh Summit, Preamble).

This and all subsequent translations from the German press are by the author.

The reference is to the aforementioned Ludwig Erhard, one of the founders of the German social market economy.

Sarkozy was a more vehement critic of the Anglo-Saxon model than Merkel during the early phases of the crisis.