The Making of the European Periphery : A Critical Analysis of the Discourse on the Euro Crisis

Many articles have been written about the euro crisis and its effects on thecountries of the European south, particularly on Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece.
Some of these texts identify a division of the euro area into a wealthy north and apoor south. They refer to the north as the European centre and to the south as theEuropean periphery. This study uses the methods of critical discourse analysis toexamine the language that is used in texts on the euro crisis. It particularly focuseson the dichotomic terms centre and periphery and analyzes how they are used in therespective publications. In doing so, this study also refers to world-systems theoryand dependency theory in which these terms are well-established concepts. Theanalysis shows that the language used in articles on the euro crisis is everythingbut consistent. Despite the frequent use of the terms centre and periphery, thereappears to be no generally accepted understanding of their meaning, not to speak ofa definition. In accordance with world-systems theory, this study suggests that itwould be more accurate and therefore preferable to refer to the European south assemiperiphery.