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This paper examines new forms of study-abroad expertise on social media and their role in mediating Indian student mobility to Germany. Firstly, it explores how mutual-support Facebook and WhatsApp groups—used by prospective international students in India to support each other through the process of applying to German universities—have contributed to the emergence of new forms of education consultancy, offered by Indian students or graduates of German universities, whom I call 'Student Guides'. In addition, it shows how some Indians studying in Germany have started 'Study in Germany' YouTube channels, aimed at aspirant student migrants, and have become important 'study-abroad influencers'. The paper analyses how these new forms of study-abroad expertise offer prospective international students social and cultural capital important for successful student migration, apart from shaping their imaginative geographies of Germany, and embedding them in cultures of mobility. Furthermore, the paper highlights how these new forms of study-abroad expertise intersect with, and critique, a more 'traditional' study-abroad expert: the professional education consultant. The paper draws on a digital ethnography of 'Study in Germany' Facebook and WhatsApp groups and YouTube channels, as well as interviews with the YouTubers, Student Guides, and Indian students in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The introduction of self-service technology (SST), particularly self-checkout and self-scan services, has gained increasing attention from German retail. But to date, end-customer SST use has not developed extensively. The majority of German customers still prefer to use the traditional checkout service counter. The purpose of this paper is to explore how trust, fun, and usefulness can attract inexperienced prospective adopters and experienced customers to use SST. For this, our study investigated the intention to use an SST as a holistic system (self-scan and self-checkout) and considered trust in the SST technology for the first time. Also the interplay between fun and perceived usefulness has not been investigated before. The data were collected using an online questionnaire and in front of a German hypermarket that offers SST. The sample (n = 222) consists of both inexperienced and experienced customers. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling in SmartPLS4. Results demonstrate fun is a decisive factor for a holistic SST system that incorporates the task of self-scanning and self-checkout. This also holds for trust and perceived usefulness. With regard to experienced and prospective users, the results show different effects in the importance of both groups. Fun is crucial for prospective users. For experienced users, benefits and trust become more important for long-term usage. Trust is an essential aspect for both user types. Managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve qualitative case studies in German and Canadian hospitals and IT companies were used in this mixed-methods study analysing the labour market outcomes of immigrants. The reported case studies investigate the immigrants' recognition, integration process and the usability of foreign qualifications, skills and work experiences in the labour market. Furthermore, the strategies and rationales of employers and employees within the recruiting process are analysed. Here, the focus lies on the transferability and obstacles of cultural and social capital across country borders as well as the relevant framework conditions. This paper refers to Bourdieu's approach towards different types of capital as well as the rational choice theory. The results demonstrate that immigrants in both countries face more obstacles accessing the labour market within the health sector than within the IT sector. The context of the recruiting situation strongly affects the strategies and behaviour of the employers or the recruiters. Within these sector- and country-specific confines, individual factors determine the immigrants' labour market success. Furthermore, the sector and the country affect the relevance of each individual factor in the recruiting process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do far-right actors and issues structure public debates and become mainstream over time? Previous research has shown that far-right actors are central actors in political conflicts in Western Europe, partly due to their dominance in struggles on cultural issues. The entrenchment of the far right substantially depends on their networks and public visibility. However, we still lack a long-term understanding of public debates about far-right actors and their discursive interconnections across issues. In this paper, we deliver the first longitudinal analysis of the evolution and structure of far-right discourse networks and the diffusion of far-right ideas in public debates since the 1990s. Methodologically, this paper innovates by combining discourse network analysis with automated text analysis to investigate how the relations between far-right actors and issues are represented in mass media. We analyze more than 500,000 newspaper articles in six different mass media outlets in Germany. The results show that far-right actors have gained more public visibility since the 1990s. The study demonstrates that the mass media debates have introduced and amplified cultural issues "owned" by the far right. Far-right discourse networks in mass media have grown, discursive interactions have intensified and discourse networks have become more centralized. Our results indicate that the discursive mainstreaming of the far right evolved in the context of the "refugee crisis" in 2015, and was linked to the AfD's institutional access. Overall, the study aids in developing a better understanding of the success of the far right and the crucial role of public debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of economic crisis, academics, policy-makers, and pundits often debate the correct level and best use of government debt. This paper argues structural political and economic factors grant core economies more fiscal space than peripheral economies. While the federal governments of the US, Germany, and other core economies may easily issue and sell debt in private markets, smaller economies, both municipalities within countries, and countries in the global periphery, are more vulnerable to demand fluctuations. All economies may benefit from explicit commitments by monetary authorities to resume their historic roles as governments' banks, especially during crises. By highlighting present political constraints, monetary structures, and market factors that may inhibit governments' successful placement of bonds, this paper deepens present debate about the potential feasibility of functional finance to facilitate fiscal activity, even in unprecedented times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The context for this paper is a shift in the way citizens engage in democratic processes which has received increasing attention in the literature. Building on previously conducted research, this paper contributes to the conceptualisation of citizenship activities in terms of young people below the voting age from rural communities. Based on reviewing current research, seven emerging contexts that can assist with exploring young people's citizenship activities are proposed, namely unofficial, individual, glocal, sporadic, online, issues-based, and justice-oriented. These contexts were translated into a framework which is introduced and explored in this paper. To explore this framework, focus groups (n = 26) and a qualitative questionnaire (n = 106) were conducted with young people aged 13–16 from a secondary school in Germany. The proposed framework extends previous conceptualisations of emerging citizenship contexts by looking beyond citizen types and taxonomies to explore the spaces, modes, goals, and the frequency of participants' citizenship activities. Results indicate that the proposed framework was useful in exploring multiple emerging citizenship contexts. Focus group and questionnaire participants were particularly engaged in glocal, unofficial, sporadic, and issues-based contexts and to a lower degree in individual, online, and justice-oriented contexts. A key challenge is achieving conceptual clarity around the seven contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Syrian refugee crisis posed enormous challenges for the child welfare system and immigration authorities in Germany. Based on qualitative interviews and publicly available data, this paper explores the responses of frontline workers to the surge in unaccompanied refugee minors (UAMs) during the crisis and how their actions were experienced by UAMs. Results illustrate how frontline coping strategies created effective barriers to UAMs being united with their families. The findings raise questions about the relationship between ambiguous policy goals, frontline practice and formal legislation in the context of the right to asylum and the best interests of the child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-compliance with EU environmental policy not only impedes Europeanization, but jeopardizes the protection of human health and the environment. However, research on failed policy implementation still applies traditional top-down or bottom-up approaches and disregards complex actor constellations and contextualization. The research in this paper applies a comprehensive multi-level governance (MLG) approach to overcome this gap and explain non-compliance with EU environmental policy. We conducted a qualitative analysis of non-compliance with the Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) within an MLG context, based on a case study in Germany. Our findings revealed a dynamic interplay of local government's lack of action, an absence of serious support and pressure from superordinate levels, business actors exerting influence across all levels, and media reporting contributing to misinformation, all of which contribute to non-compliance. At the same time, there was a lack of awareness of the negative effects of air pollution and thus a lack of public pressure to act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German government appointed an advisory committee to negotiate the design of a structural change prompted by energy and climate policy. The Coal Exit Commission was assigned with this complex mandate on how to end coal-fired power generation. Against many expectations, the Commission, comprised of stakeholders with competing interests, achieved a consensus outlining the coal exit in Germany by 2038. Considering that the result of this compromise serves as the basis for a major policy change, it is legitimate to ask if the final recommendations of the Coal Exit Commission were balanced, reliable and socially robust, and if the Commissions' advice satisfies the need for quality standards in negotiated multi-source policy advice? This paper investigates the Commission in that regard, while testing a framework for hybrid multi-source stakeholder advisory committees. The research shows broad compatibility with the framework. Simultaneously, this paper argues for additional factors such as the careful reflection of the composition of a hybrid advisory group, a precise, clear-cut mandate, development of trust between group members, independence of the adviser from the appointing authority. Finally, while the Coal Exit Commission seems an interesting model to reach consensus in difficult societal issues, the paper critically assesses its limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]