The Politics of Empathy: Social Movements and Victim Repertoires

Abstract

I draw from the sociology of social problems, social movements, and emotions to consider the articulation of cultural resonance and feeling rules in the framing of victims by social movement activists. I theorize that “political empathy,” expressed in policy and through collective identification, is related to social evaluations, attributions of agency, normative emotional responses, and frame resonance. Frames appealing to broad audiences and inspiring collective identification may depend on victim typifications that negotiate widely shared values and sometimes conflicting emotional standards. In some cases, this negotiation can be accomplished through reframing, or shifting movement representations of victimization. To illustrates I briefly discuss the increasing popularity of “survivor” imagery in scholarly characterizations of and discourse on battered women, concluding with suggestions for further theorizing and research.