Babyelefant und Hausverstand : Wie Krisen produziert werden

Wodak, Ruth and Rheindorf, Markus (2026) Babyelefant und Hausverstand : Wie Krisen produziert werden. Picus Verlag, Vienna. ISBN 9783711735065

Abstract

An analysis of how crises are managed and framed in Austria, compared with other European countries (particularly Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain), based on wide-ranging qualitative and quantitative studies. The COVID-19 crisis reveals how actors from ministries, government agencies and the academic world attempt to steer the crisis from their own perspective, resulting in an overall picture of almost astonishing incompetence. Far-right parties such as the FPÖ in Austria were able to skilfully exploit the political establishment’s failure to communicate effectively. In the wake of the anti-vaccination campaign, fascist themes and tropes became part of ‘normal’ discourse, ranging from the supposedly ‘healthy national body’ to open anti-Semitism. The debate on compulsory vaccination also explains why, following the repeal of the law in the summer of 2022, the FPÖ emerged as the winner of the crisis and has since topped the polls in both elections and opinion surveys. Democratic politicians could learn from their mistakes. This book would assist them in doing so.