Vivien Schmidt | The Power of Ideas and Discourse in Political Analysis—and its applications to Europe
About
Vivien Schmidt's new book, The Power of Ideas and Discourse in Political Analysis: A Discursive Institutionalist Perspective (Oxford 2026) provides a sweeping appraisal of how ideas and discourse are used by policymakers and everyday citizens to understand the world, communicate with one another, and mobilize for collective action. It illustrates using examples of scholarly work on capitalism and democracy, international diplomacy and human rights, environmental, economic, and social policy, conservativism, neoliberalism, socialism, and populism. In so doing, the book also provides a discursive institutionalist perspective on the (constructivist) nature of meaning, the dynamics of change and the exercise of power. At a time of major political upheaval, with populism and authoritarianism on the rise, understanding agents' ideas and discourse is even more essential today than ever. The talk will illustrate with examples from the European Union and Europe more generally, both in terms of
