Contested Integration in the Borderlands
Narrating the EU in German Regional Newspapers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19489765 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katja Sarmiento-Mirwaldt (0000-0002-7886-9414, University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 20-31 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Borders in Globalization Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2562-9913 • E-ISSN: 2562-9913 |
| Publisher | University of Victoria Libraries (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.18357/big_r71202522498 |
| OpenAlex | W7162803415 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
European integration is not only a political and economic process but also one of communication and contestation. This is especially visible in border regions, where the effects of European integration on borders are experienced most directly. This article examines how regional German newspapers on the border with Poland and Czechia construct narratives of Europe and bordering. Using qualitative media analysis, it shows that re-bordering is framed differently depending on the target of these measures, while regularly invoking the European Union (EU) as a key frame of reference. The EU is narrated both positively as benefactor and protector, and critically through four ‘soft’ Eurosceptic narratives: two generic ones of EU distance and bureaucracy, and two highly localised ones centred on disappointment when the EU is seen not to live up to its own ideals, and on perceptions of European integration working less well in a Central European border region than in Western Europe. Rooted in controversies such as the Turów coal mine dispute or the disruptions of cross-border commuting during Covid-19, these narratives show that regional media not only replicate common criticisms but also produce place-specific ones. Taken together, the findings theorise border regions as sites where bordering events become narrative touchstones for evaluating EU performance and legitimacy. Keywords: Narratives; debordering; re-bordering; European Union; regional media; border regions; Euroscepticism
Disappointment · European integration · European union · German · Narrative · Newspaper · Politics · Cross-Border Cooperation and Integration · European Union Policy and Governance · Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Understanding Euroscepticism
The Making of a European Public Sphere
The Schengen Crisis and the End of the “Myth” of Europe Without Borders
Resilience of Cross-border Cooperation in the Neisse-Nisa-Nysa Euroregion after the Pandemic
III European perspectives on borderlands
The Eurozone crisis and Euroscepticism in the European press
The lines that continue to separate us
Media Coverage on European Governance
Boundaries as Social Practice and Discourse
Uncertainty, Threat, and the Role of the Media in Promoting the Dehumanization of Immigrants and Refugees
Inventing Europe
The UK, the EU, and Covid-19
The social construction of Europe
How Foundational Narratives Shape European Union Politics
Everything All Right at the Internal EU Borders? The Ambivalent Effects of Cross-Border Integration and the Rise of Euroscepticism
Europeanisation versus Euroscepticism
Denouncing European integration
Bringing geography back in
Exploring the Critical Potential of the Borderscapes Concept
Debordering and re-bordering in the refugee crisis
Border security as practice
Redrawing the Line
| Highly cited | No |
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