Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States

Communication, Society and Politics

by Myra Marx Ferree, William Anthony Gamson, Jürgen Gerhards

Using controversy over abortion as a lens through which to compare the political process and role of the media in these two very different democracies, this book examines the contest over meaning that is being waged by social movements, political parties, churches and other social actors. Abortion is a critical battleground for debates over social values in Germany and the U.S., but the constitutional premises on which arguments rest differ, as do the strategies that movements and parties adopt and the opportunities for influence that are open to them.

372 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 1998

Reviews

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot of stuff about Germany that made me think US isn't sooo bad in terms of abortion policy (but yea we are pretty bad still).

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for class as an intense example of news analysis, plus unusual structure (putting the "theory section" last). Will re-read.