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Outrage without Consequences? Post-Snowden Discourses and Governmental Practice in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Steiger

    (Institute of Political Science, Heidelberg University, Germany)

  • Wolf J. Schünemann

    (Institute of Social Sciences, Hildesheim University, Germany)

  • Katharina Dimmroth

    (Institute of Political Science, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany)

Abstract

In 2013 Edward Snowden’s disclosures of mass surveillance performed by US intelligence agencies seriously irritated politicians and citizens around the globe. This holds particularly true for privacy-sensitive communities in Germany. However, while the public was outraged, intelligence and security cooperation between the United States and Germany has been marked by continuity instead of disruption. The rather insubstantial debate over a so-called “No-Spy-Agreement” between the United States and Germany is just one telling example of the disconnect between public discourse and governmental action, as is the recent intelligence service regulation. This article considers why and where the “Snowden effect” has been lost on different discursive levels. We analyze and compare parliamentary and governmental discourses in the two years after the Snowden revelations by using the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD) to dissect the group-specific statements and interpretive schemes in 287 official documents by the German Bundestag, selected ministries and agencies within the policy subsystem. These will be analyzed in reference to actual governmental practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Steiger & Wolf J. Schünemann & Katharina Dimmroth, 2017. "Outrage without Consequences? Post-Snowden Discourses and Governmental Practice in Germany," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 7-16.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:5:y:2017:i:1:p:7-16
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Thiel, Thorsten, 2019. "Souveränität: Dynamisierung und Kontestation in der digitalen Konstellation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 47-60.
    2. Berg, Sebastian & Thiel, Thorsten, 2019. "Widerstand und die Formierung von Ordnung in der digitalen Konstellation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 67-86.
    3. Pohle, Julia & Van Audenhove, Leo, 2017. "Post-Snowden internet policy: between public outrage, resistance and policy change," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 1-6.
    4. Pohle, Julia & Thiel, Thorsten, 2020. "Digital sovereignty," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 9(4), pages 1-19.
    5. Julia Pohle & Leo Van Audenhove, 2017. "Post-Snowden Internet Policy: Between Public Outrage, Resistance and Policy Change," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1-6.
    6. Berg, Sebastian & Rakowski, Niklas & Thiel, Thorsten, 2020. "Die digitale Konstellation. Eine Positionsbestimmung," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 171-191.
    7. Hösl, Maximilian, 2019. "Semantics of the internet: a political history," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(3-4), pages 275-292.
    8. Pohle, Julia & Thiel, Thorsten, 2021. "Digital Sovereignty," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 47-67.
    9. Pohle, Julia & Voelsen, Daniel, 2022. "Centrality and power. The struggle over the techno‐political configuration of the Internet and the global digital order," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(1), pages 13-27.

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