Spiegel Bestseller
Language
Politics
Science
"This book reads like the 'making of' of the latest European debates. Be it the refugee crisis or climate change – language 'makes' politics. In this impressive book, Wehling demonstrates how framing controls how we think, and outlines the role of media and policy makers in this process."
Dr. Stefan Leifert, ZDF Correspondent Europastudio
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Political Framing
Politisches Framing
How our brains turn language into politics.
Wie eine Nation sich ihr Denken einredet - und daraus Politik macht
Political thinking is conscious, rational and objective: this old-fashioned belief continues to dominate in party headquarters and editorial departments and is imprinted in many people’s minds. However, cognitive research has long since written off 'classical rationality'. Our opinions are not determined by facts, but by frames. These frames pull the strings in the brain and decide whether information is identified as important or swept under the carpet in cognitive terms. Frames are always ideologically selective, and they are activated and consolidated via language; our public debates act like synaptic superglue, which is able to link ideas together for good. In cognitive research, it has long since been accepted that language is politics.
It is therefore high time to put an end to our naivety when it comes to the power of political discourses. With Political Framing: A cognitive scientist's guide to how a nation turns language into politics Elisabeth Wehling lays the foundation for this. She uses simple language to initially cover how language affects our thoughts, our perception of the world and our actions. She shows where the effective force of mental mechanisms such as frames and metaphors originates and clearly illustrates why it is indispensable for healthy democratic discourses to compare the judgements of society and politics though prevailing frames with our own values – and to ensure our own world view is communicated authentically. These basic principles are followed by an analysis of the most striking frames of our debates on taxes, the welfare state, society, social benefits, work, abortion, Islam, terrorism, immigration, refugee policy and the environment.
Politisches Denken ist bewusst, rational und objektiv – davon sind viele Menschen überzeugt. Doch die moderne Neuro- und Kognitionsforschung hat die ›klassische Vernunft‹ längst zu Grabe getragen. Nicht Fakten bedingen politische Entscheidungen, sondern kognitive Deutungsrahmen, in der Wissenschaft Frames genannt. Dieses Buch deckt auf, welche Frames unsere politischen Debatten bestimmen, und gewährt überraschende Einblicke in unser kollektives politisches Denken.
Elisabeth Wehling, Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist at the University of California, Berkeley where for the past decade she has been researching political thought, language, and behavior using an array of methodological approaches. She is the leading expert on political framing in the US and Europe. She works with numerous stakeholders in media, politics, and the industry across the globe on topics such as global warming, racism, immigration, the market, transparent journalism, and many more. She authored numerous scientific publications and books, including The Little Blue Book(Simon & Schuster, 2012) together with George Lakoff.
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