The Politics of Grief and Mourning: Calls to Action and Processing Emotions

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Using data from an ethnographic study of U.S. antiwar activism during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this article draws lessons for reinvigorating the anti-nuclear movement and making it successful. By examining the roles of emotions in the military peace movement, this work illuminates their power to mobilize and maintain activism in movements more broadly. Grief, particularly when displayed in culturally expected ways, offers an important call to action and can provide publicity for antiwar or other oppositional framing of policy. The community building within collective action helps individuals heal and facilitate resilience for managing negative emotions brought on by political (including nuclear) anxiety and the very real consequences of policies; by intentionally creating rituals and spaces for consciousness-raising movements facilitate movement maintenance.