Price ceremony 2016

The Henrik and Karolina von Mentzer European Studies Thesis Awards are granted to one thesis examined within the Bachelor’s Programme in European Studies, and one thesis examined within the Master’s Programme in European Studies, at the University of Gothenburg. The purpose of the award is to acknowledge and encourage research on Europe and European integration which focuses especially on matters of social exclusion, xenophobia, discrimination, democracy, and multiculturalism.

The award was inaugurated in the spring of 2016 to promote the spirit and the overall objective of the Henrik and Karolina von Mentzer fundraising foundation, which was established in 2015.

The winners of the award will be presented at the Centre for European Studies (CES) annual Graduation Ceremony of the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in European Studies. The winners will be awarded a prize of 2500 SEK each. The Graduation Ceremony is normally held in October each year.

Nominations to the award are done by thesis supervisors and graders. The nominations will then be discussed by CES grading committee. The final decision is made the the Programme Board of the European Studies Programmes.

The winners of the Henrik and Karolina Mentzer Thesis Award 2016 are Lisa Gastaldi and Clemens Schubert.

Lisa Gastaldi

2016 Bachelor thesis  

Protest eller ideologi? Vänsterpopulism och väljarbeteende i Europaparlamentsval

Justification

The thesis tackles the question of what drives voting for left-wing populist parties in European Parliament elections, arguing that research on populist parties is too focused on right-wing populism. In the wake of the success of parties such as Podemos in Spain and Syriza in Greece this issue is highly salient for understanding the development of European democracies. The thesis convincingly argues that a vote for a left-wing populist party can either be understood as a preference for more left-wing policies, or as a protest against the political establishment. The empirical study is ambitious and well-motivated, and for a bachelor thesis methodologically advanced. The previous research and theory section is comprehensive, and the author develops reasonable hypotheses to be tested. The thesis studies votes for seven left-wing populist in the 2014 EP election, using data from the European Election Survey. Two logistic regression models test the hypotheses of the thesis, and the author controls for other political attitudes and socio-demographic variables as well as including country dummies. The analysis shows that both left-wing ideology and dissatisfaction with the existing government have statistically significant effects. The thesis identifies an important gap in the research literature and shows the ability to use and adapt existing theories to investigate this gap, combined with an excellent empirical study. The author shows an unusually mature methodological awareness for a bachelor thesis. The author also extensively discusses the implications of the study for our understanding of left-wing populism and for European democracies at large.

Clemens Schubert

2016 Master thesis    

Patriotic and anti-islam, but European? What European means for Pegida in Dresden

Justification

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (German: Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes), abbreviated PEGIDA or Pegida, is a nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement. Clemens Schubert’s thesis is an analysis of Pegida as a new, European Social Movement. The thesis analyses the way Pegida constructs European identity, through framing notions of the “European” both as something essentially different than “Islam” as well as being a shared experience of Europeans of all nations to be ruled by European elite of politicians. Combining approaches in the research field of social movements with Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory/methodology Schubert makes an innovative discourse analysis of speeches given at Pegida demonstrations in the German city of Dresden. Schubert shows that in PEGIDA discourse, European signifies values, freedoms, norms and principles among which the freedom of expression and sexual rights gain central importance. “European” is thus constituted as a unity to be defended against alleged cultural invasions by Muslim immigrants and multiculturalism. This is also to say that Schubert comes to important conclusions about European identity in an age of growing populism and rising levels of tensions where religion and national belonging are given new meanings. Schubert’s thesis if of high academic quality and displays an impressive grasp on several bodies of scholarly literature. He shows a commendable ability to reflect these literatures critically as he synthesizes them to a coherent framework. His thesis contributes to our knowledge of present day xenophobia as well as to our understanding of democracy and multiculturalism.