Abstract
The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the ‘rational’ public sphere rather than the ‘emotional’ private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examining its underlying emotions. Informal, affective manifestations of politics are enormously influential, profoundly shaping inter- and intra-national democracy; they accordingly require interdisciplinary study. This thematic issue of <em>Politics and Governance</em> includes disciplines as diverse as education, history, international relations, political theory, psychology, and sociology. In doing so, we illustrate that emotions are cross-disciplinary concerns, relevant beyond the study of politics.
Highlights
The emotional turn in the humanities and social sciences, especially within the discipline of international relations (IR), attracts considerable scholarly acknowledgement. This thematic issue of Politics and Governance presents multiple methodologies which have proven successful in elucidating this concept. It cites recent works such as Researching Emotions in International Relations: Methodological Perspectives on the Emotional Turn (Clément & Sangar, 2018), and studies of the role that individual actors play in IR (Jacobi & Freyberg-Inan, 2015), as well as Nussbaum’s (2013, 2001) writings on the formation of diplomatic ties through encouraging
Weber problematises Nussbaum’s theory of compassionate emotions and, in doing so, employs Arendt’s theorisation of pity. This is applied to the 2016 US election— Clinton’s “Love and Kindness” ads—to illustrate how these challenges threaten to come into play when compassionate emotions are utilised as political devices
A psychoanalytic narrative framework is applied to the populist phenomenon in US politics, with an especial focus on Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders at the time of their candidacy
Summary
The emotional turn in the humanities and social sciences, especially within the discipline of international relations (IR), attracts considerable scholarly acknowledgement This thematic issue of Politics and Governance presents multiple methodologies which have proven successful in elucidating this concept. In the discipline of politics, the traditional dichotomisation of emotions and rationality (based fundamentally upon Cartesian mind-body dualism, and largely unquestioned since the Scottish Enlightenment) is increasingly subject to problematisation This expanded academic scope encompasses expanding political practices and digital technologies, the latter necessitating research on online participation and dialogue.
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