Collective actors and potential alliances for eco-social policies in Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID6413183
AuthorsJulia C Cremer (0009-0008-8031-6529, University of Duisburg-Essen, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume34
Issue2
Pages183-206
Publication date2024-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueZeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1430-6387 • E-ISSN: 2366-2638
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s41358-024-00374-w
OpenAlexW4399492264
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited57

To break the vicious circle of mutually reinforcing climate and social crises, there is a rapidly growing literature around integrated public policy instruments called eco-social policies. The actors potentially drive such policies in public debate and the policy process remains under-researched. This paper elaborates on the positioning of various non-state actors on eco-social policies and potential alliance-building in Germany. It derives hypotheses from the existing literature on the role of trade unions, social- and environmental non-governmental organizations, and social movements in eco-social transformation. It tests them empirically on a dataset of public communication and uses a combination of computer-assisted text-analytic tools, namely text mining and structural topic modeling. The findings indicate that although eco-social themes as cross-cutting issues offer good conditions for alliance-building, actors differ widely in their potential to do so. Based on actors’ eco-social broadness and transformational intensity, the paper finds four clusters: a status quo supporter, an activist, a pragmatic, and an eco-social alliance cluster and discusses possible strategies for them. The findings highlight the relevance of service sector unions and social non-governmental organizations as they could act as a bridge to connect social and ecological interests. The paper’s contribution to the Special Issue is twofold: It addresses the policy dimension by examining what issues actors raise about ecological and social concerns. In terms of politics, it gains insights into actors’ positioning and their strategic alliance-building. Both shed light on the potential for eco-social change

Alliance · Economic system · Economics · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Status quo · Transformational leadership · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

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