Discursive Turns and Critical Junctures

With subtlety and skill, Della Porta and her colleagues show exactly how violent attacks can disrupt the public sphere. Their analysis matters enormously, as the ensuing symbolic struggles help determine the contours of contemporary politics. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the wellbeing of the world's democracies. -John S. Dryzek, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Centenary Professor, University of Canberra This is an impressive and important book. It analyzes one of the most important transformative events of the recent years: the attacks on Charlie Hebdo. It does so in a superb way by showing differences and similarities within the left, the right, and among religious organisations across four countries: France, Italy, Germany, and the UK. This is cutting edge research, both empirically and theoretically. -Jan Willem Duyvendak, Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, University of Amsterdam Discursive Turns and Critical Junctures is an ambitious and innovative book that brings together several approaches to social movements in order to analyse how European publics responded to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015. It is based on rich and original data that has been collected specifically for the project and analyses whether the events triggered a discursive juncture and a turning point in European political cultures. -Florence Faucher, Professor of Political Science, Sciences Po, Centre d'etudes Europeennes et de politique comparee, Paris