A New Social Conflict on Globalisation-Related Issues in Germany? A Longitudinal Perspective

authored by: Céline Teney, Li Kathrin Rupieper
Abstract: We draw on cleavage theory to assess the emergence of a social conflict concerning globalisation-related issues among the German population between 1989 and 2019. We argue that issue salience and opinion polarisation are key conditions for a successful and sustainable political mobilisation of citizens and thus for the emergence of a social conflict. In line with globalisation cleavage theory, we hypothesised that issue salience as well as overall and between-group opinion polarisation on globalisation-related issues have increased over time. Our study considers four globalisation-related issues: immigration, the European Union (EU), economic liberalism, and the environment. While the salience of the EU and economic liberalism issues remained low during the observed period, we found a recent increase in salience for the issues of immigration (since 2015) and the environment (since 2018). Furthermore, our results point to rather stable attitudes on globalisation-related issues among the German population: We did not find any consistent evidence of an increase in overall or between-group polarisation over time. In conclusion, the idea of an emerging conflict around globalisation-related issues among the German population finds very little empirical support.
Organisation(s): Institute of Economic Policy
External Organisation(s): Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)
Type: Article
Journal: Kolner Zeitschrift fur Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie
Volume: 75
Pages: 205-234
No. of pages: 30
ISSN: 0023-2653
Publication date: 12.2023
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-023-00884-5 (Access: Open)