Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Agricultural and Food Policy

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Thaer-Institute | Agricultural and Food Policy | News-en | 18.02.2026: Neue Publikation von Astrid Artner-Nehls, Peter H. Feindt und Sandra Uthes zur Entwicklung des Diskurses über die Tierhaltung in den Plenardebatten des Deutschen Bundestags von 1949-2021 erschienen

18.02.2026: Neue Publikation von Astrid Artner-Nehls, Peter H. Feindt und Sandra Uthes zur Entwicklung des Diskurses über die Tierhaltung in den Plenardebatten des Deutschen Bundestags von 1949-2021 erschienen



Artner-Nehls, A., Feindt, P. H., & Uthes, S. (2026). The evolution of discourses on livestock farming in Germany: a text mining analysis of parliamentary debates (1949–2021). Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 1–21. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2026.2631540 

This study investigates the evolution of political discourses on livestock farming in Germany from the post-war period to 2021, using a corpus-assisted discourse analysis combining structural topic modeling and lexicometric analysis of parliamentary speeches. The topic model revealed four themes: structural change, animal welfare, environmental degradation, and consumer safety. Semantic analysis revealed changing concepts and priorities, from livestock farming as an exclusively economic activity, to criticism of declining family farming with growing attention to animal welfare. The analysis reveals that while the discourse on livestock farming has diversified to include environmental, welfare and consumer concerns, new topics were often adopted through recombination with established discourses.