Economic Interests in the UK and Germany: What Crisis, and Is It Over Yet?

Crisis is a matter of definition. And who defines the crisis defines the solution. Actors thus struggle for the prerogative of interpretation. The contemporary Eurocrisis gives multiple examples of how crisis definitions are forceful – and get challenged. The paper follows this underlying knowledge sociological assumption and interprets the Eurocrisis as an arena for conflicting interests trying to (re)shape European and national market institutions. The analysis draws on a sample (2007-2013) of press releases by German and British business and labour organizations. When did they publicly speak of the crisis? What did they identify as the causes of the crisis? Is the crisis in their perception over yet? Comparisons are made between the different organizations – labour and business may have different ideas of how to get back to growth and prosperity – and between a coordinated and a liberal market economy as actors positions may vary between institutional settings.