What is VOICES?

The VOICES project is a DFG/AHRC funded research project that aims to examine the role of the media as key agents in the public construction of post-industrial marginalisation, and to explore the modes of subjectification of residents of post-industrial communities against these dominant mass-mediated narratives in a cross-national comparison. At the centre of the project are six post-industrial cities, each of which has experienced the rise and fall of industrial work: Redcar, Rotherham and Middlesbrough in the North of England, and Weißwasser, Lauchhammer and Eisenhüttenstadt in East Germany.

The VOICES consortium

The VOICES project is led by a consortium of six researchers from three universities in Germany and the UK, each bringing a unique disciplinary background and expertise to the project
Anke Fiedler

Anke Fiedler

German PI (Greifswald)

The German team is coordinated by Anke Fiedler, who works at the intersection of media, communication and sociology. Through her research in two large EU projects (RePAST, INFOCORE), she brings expertise in comparative cross-national studies based on qualitative methods and informed by discourse theory. Her previous research includes studies on the subjectification of (counter-)hegemonic media narratives of remembrance in German lay publics, including right-wing milieus, theoretically and empirically linking media discourse and media use/modes of subjectification.

Antje Glück

Antje Glück

UK PI (Bournemouth)

The UK team is led by Antje Glück, who has a strong background in journalism and media psychology as well as qualitative methods, and draws on leadership and research experience from previous international research projects funded by the EU and the AHRC. She contributes to the media component of the VOICES project with her extensive expertise in applied discourse research, acquired in previous in-depth analyses of German news coverage on the discursive marginalization of East Germans and on the discursive representation of Islam and terrorism.

James Morrison

James Morrison

WP1 Lead (Stirling)

James Morrison is an interdisciplinary researcher with experience in mixed methods, who brings to the VOICES project his cumulative expertise and methodological skills in researching discursive representations of marginalised groups, including economically disadvantaged communities, benefit recipients and migrants/immigrants. His most recent monograph analyses the origins and evolution of the debate around “left behind” post-industrial communities in the context of Brexit and the perspectives of “left behind” groups themselves.

Darren Lilleker

Darren Lilleker

WP2 Lead (Bournemouth)

All VOICES project components in the UK that require direct research in marginalised milieus will be supervised by Darren Lilleker, who has worked with a range of vulnerable groups, including refugees. He has expertise in qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups and diary-keeping as a way of gaining insight into individuals’ cognition. His work explores aspects of political cognition, specifically how citizens are impacted by political communication and the impacts that such processes have on normative ideals of inclusive and pluralist democratic societies. His research includes the analysis of communication processes during the UK Brexit referendum and the subsequent 2017 UK general election.

Maike Dinger

Maike Dinger

Post-doctoral researcher (Bournemouth)

Maike Dinger has recently completed a PhD project on representations and media discourses of popular participation in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, with a focus on the strategic exclusion of marginalised communities in national narratives of democratisation. As part of the UK project team, she is involved in both the media and discourse analysis for this project and the organisation and delivery of outreach activities, including storytelling groups, interviews, and focus groups.

Andy Räder

Andy Räder

Post-doctoral researcher (Greifswald)

Andy Räder‘s research interests include media history, GDR film heritage, historical audience research, minorities and marginalised film cultures. In the VOICES project, he is responsible for researching the subjectification methods of members of post-industrial milieus in East Germany against the background of public discourses on post-industrial communities and regions. He organises the implementation of storytelling groups, interviews and group discussions in the three cities of Lauchhammer, Weißwasser and Eisenhüttenstadt.