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The polysemous nature of the German Verkehrswende—Exploring the role of floating signifiers in shaping mobility futures

Ertelt, Sophie Marie and Hawxwell, Tom LU (2025) In Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 55.
Abstract

The German transportation sector's negative contribution to climate change amongst broader social, environmental, and economic problems is applying evermore pressure to the prevailing automobility regime to bring about its transformation. However, the vision of this transition, referred to as the Verkehrswende or Mobilitätswende, is highly contested, with varying conceptions of different actors about the future of mobility in Germany. A discourse network analysis (DNA) is performed to examine the development of the related policy debate, identify key problem and solution framings and analyse the overall discourse evolution from 2018 to mid-2023. The findings highlight how recent exogenous events shape and reframe the discourse, inciting... (More)

The German transportation sector's negative contribution to climate change amongst broader social, environmental, and economic problems is applying evermore pressure to the prevailing automobility regime to bring about its transformation. However, the vision of this transition, referred to as the Verkehrswende or Mobilitätswende, is highly contested, with varying conceptions of different actors about the future of mobility in Germany. A discourse network analysis (DNA) is performed to examine the development of the related policy debate, identify key problem and solution framings and analyse the overall discourse evolution from 2018 to mid-2023. The findings highlight how recent exogenous events shape and reframe the discourse, inciting debates around viable mobility futures. Further, our analysis uncovers a novel discursive strategy termed repugnostic framing, through which incumbent actors aim to oppose the framings of other discursive agents, leading to increased lines of conflict and polarisation, thus possibly hindering effective policy implementation.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Discourse network analysis, Discursive framing struggles, Floating signifier, Mobility transition, Transport sector
in
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
volume
55
article number
100963
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85216070650
ISSN
2210-4224
DOI
10.1016/j.eist.2025.100963
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
id
fb1f9548-487a-43de-8119-10c02d8cba59
date added to LUP
2025-08-25 14:55:56
date last changed
2025-08-26 11:14:08
@article{fb1f9548-487a-43de-8119-10c02d8cba59,
  abstract     = {{<p>The German transportation sector's negative contribution to climate change amongst broader social, environmental, and economic problems is applying evermore pressure to the prevailing automobility regime to bring about its transformation. However, the vision of this transition, referred to as the Verkehrswende or Mobilitätswende, is highly contested, with varying conceptions of different actors about the future of mobility in Germany. A discourse network analysis (DNA) is performed to examine the development of the related policy debate, identify key problem and solution framings and analyse the overall discourse evolution from 2018 to mid-2023. The findings highlight how recent exogenous events shape and reframe the discourse, inciting debates around viable mobility futures. Further, our analysis uncovers a novel discursive strategy termed repugnostic framing, through which incumbent actors aim to oppose the framings of other discursive agents, leading to increased lines of conflict and polarisation, thus possibly hindering effective policy implementation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ertelt, Sophie Marie and Hawxwell, Tom}},
  issn         = {{2210-4224}},
  keywords     = {{Discourse network analysis; Discursive framing struggles; Floating signifier; Mobility transition; Transport sector}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions}},
  title        = {{The polysemous nature of the German Verkehrswende—Exploring the role of floating signifiers in shaping mobility futures}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2025.100963}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.eist.2025.100963}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}