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Acknowledgments In 2003, I was searching for a topic for my licentiate’s thesis in Zurich. Fortunately , I heard that the research project “National Political Change in a Globalizing World” was looking for two students who would voluntarily spend their days in the library selecting and coding newspaper ads from Swiss political parties. At that time, I had no idea that accepting this offer would lead me years later to be sitting in my office in Florence writing the acknowledgments for a book that has emerged out of the same research project. Frankly, I also had no idea of the countless hours that I would spend selecting, coding , and recoding newspaper articles for many years to come. Protesting Culture and Economics in Western Europe could not have been written without the tremendous collaborative research effort and the data collected by all the researchers who have been involved in the project during the past several years. First, I thank Edgar Grande and Hanspeter Kriesi, the two project leaders and my doctoral supervisors. I thank them for giving me the opportunity to work on this fascinating project and for providing me with invaluable support and criticism. Furthermore, I thank all my colleagues at the University of Zurich with whom I have had the pleasure to collaborate during the past seven years (Simon Bornschier, Tim Frey, Marc Helbling, Dominic Hoeglinger, Romain Lachat, and Bruno Wüest). Special thanks go to Martin Dolezal (my colleague at the University of Munich). Working with him showed me that good organization is half the battle if you need to get things done. Because this book also stands on the shoulders of another research project led by Hanspeter Kriesi, I thank Jan Willem Duyvendak, Marco Giugni, 171 172 Acknowledgments and Ruud Koopmans for developing a database on protest events in Western Europe that is, as I hope to have shown, still an invaluable “treasure.” As we have updated and extended their data, my gratitude goes to all the student assistants who helped me continue this work: Simone Bender, Pelle Berting, Alexander Drost, Silvia Matter, Giijs Schumacher, Sonja Stollreiter, Hanna Schwenzer, and Katharina Winkler. Furthermore, I thank all the other student assistants who helped us to code not only protest events but also election campaigns and public debates. None of these research efforts would have been possible without the financial support of the German Research Foundation (SFB 536–Project C 5) and the Swiss National Science Foundation for my Swiss colleagues. In addition, I thank the Max Weber Postdoctoral Programme at the European University Institute, where I completed the preparation of the final book manuscript. Special thanks also go to Nico van der Heiden, who spent much time reading and correcting the first draft chapters of my dissertation. Apart from my project colleagues, I thank the other scholars who commented on draft chapters and papers that are included in this book: Laurent Bernhard, Michelle Beyeler, Marco Giugni, Ruud Koopmans, Gary Marks, Franz Urban Pappi, and Wolfgang C. Müller. In addition, I thank all those who attended my presentations at workshops and conferences and who provided me with valuable comments. I also thank Dieter Rucht for kindly providing me with the Prodat data, David Barnes for the careful proofreading of the final manuscript, and the efficient team from University of Minnesota Press. Furthermore, I thank all my colleagues at the University of Munich for their work- and liferelated input during our conversations and coffee breaks, particularly Daniela Braun, Regina Becker, Alena Kerscher, Markus König, Martina Korzin, Patrick Pfister, and Paul Sterzel. Last but not least, I express my deep gratitude to my family and friends for supporting me through my dissertation years. My deepest thanks go to Denise for her support, and above all for showing me the joy of life and music. A few weeks ago, I opened a Chinese fortune cookie that said, “People will be listening to what you have to say.” I genuinely hope that people will find what I have to say worth listening to. ...

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