Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration

Oleart offers a theoretically innovative contribution to the Europeanization and politicization literatures by introducing the 'empowering dissensus': an agonistic type of public conflict that legitimizes the EU as a playing field, connects politics with policy, and charts a path towards increasing the accountability and legitimacy of the EU. By applying this concept to the public debate on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Oleart shows that concerted civil society action can radically transform the nature of public conflict on European issues.