Disruption and Politicisation of the European public spheres: Implications for European Communication

Abstract

The process of Europeanisation of public spheres has been disrupted by political and communication crises both general and specific to the EU that have des-intermediated the public sphere, empowered anti-democratic domestic and foreign actors, demolished the business model of communication industries and substantially affected processes of consensus seeking. Traditional mediators of European public spheres are fundamentally challenged by these dynamics but not washed away, as they remain key gatekeepers of the issues that reach political systems. The panel will discuss how ongoing disruption impacts styles, strategies and opportunities to the abovementioned mediators to translate national political conflict into transnational politics by providing actors of disrupted national public spheres with opportunities and incentives to polarise, engage with and dispute European issues domestically and transnationally. Furthermore, the post pandemic context and the Conference on the Future of the EU constitute an ideal occasion to discuss the dynamics of the European public sphere in times of politicization and disruption: the impact of participatory and deliberative mechanisms; the effects of bottom up and top down campaigns; the resonance of institutional debates (enlargement, new treaties, spitzenkandidaten) in European publics and the politization of frames of reference and collective action on issues such as rule of law, values or democracy.

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