Theorizing emotions in world politics

EMMA HUTCHISON and ROLAND BLEIKER

The University of Queensland, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press

p.491-511

Although emotions play a significant role in world politics, they have received
surprisingly little attention from international scholars so far. The article argues
that the main task is to theorize the processes by which individual emotions
become collective and political.

As noted, the historical lack of serious theoretical research related to emotions is

part of a deeper modern attitude that portrays emotions in opposition to reason and
rationality. Emotions have long been portrayed as either irrational reactions or
purely personal experiences with no bearing on social life. Political decisions had
to be free from passion, since giving in to impulsive impulses would inevitably
lead to irrational acts of violence and harm. It is therefore not surprising that, until
recently, research in the field of international relations has largely been built,
explicitly or implicitly, around models of rational actors. This was true even at a
time when other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, and
feminist philosophy had long begun to study emotions.

While opening up new ways of understanding emotions, early research in political

psychology also had limitations. Emotions were seen as hindrances or deviations
from rationality. They were thought to create "misconceptions" that undermine
responsible political analysis and action. Such attitudes leave intact the gap
between thinking and feeling, which, in a highly problematic way, continues to
underlie much research in the field of international relations.

It further argues that the links between private and collective emotions can best be
identified and explored by examining the combined ideas of two seemingly
contradictory scientific trends: macro and micro approaches. Although they both
deal with group-level emotions and political phenomena, they do so in different
ways.

Just as complex as emotions is the language used to understand them. Most

international scholars use the term "emotions" in a broad sense, as a general term
for a number of different phenomena. But at the same time, we authors recognize
the importance of numerous phenomenological distinctions, for example, between
emotions, feelings and affects; there are other terms, including "passions" and
"alief", to describe very specific aspects of emotions.

There are countless less indirect but no less important ways in which
representations link individual and collective emotions. Representations can occur
through images and narratives, through word of mouth, through old and new media
sources, through the myriad stories that societies tell about themselves and others.
Ross writes about the "circulation of affect"; how emotions are consciously and
unconsciously disseminated in various ways, including through their public
display. For him, we can understand group-level emotions only through the types
of meanings that appear in the expression of emotions. That is why he encourages
scholars to explore how identities are constituted through narratives, images, and
other representations. These are the processes by which emotions are manifested
and defined. They shape identities, attachments, relationships, behaviors,
communities, and in so doing create the emotional fabric that binds people
together. There are already several studies that explicitly or implicitly refer to
representative studies to examine the implications of how collective emotions are
elicited.

Focusing on power offers emotion researchers an ideal way to engage in dialogue

with more established theories of international relations.

Indeed, paying close attention to the intersection of emotion, power, and world
politics allows one to appreciate more fully how political viewpoints are
constituted and how, in certain situations, they can be resisted and even
transformed. Exploring the connection between emotion and power will entail
compromises and consequences for both parties. Emotional researchers need to
take more seriously discussions about the nature of power, including those related
to social identity, nationalism, alliances, regimes, or institutions. More
conventional scientists must, in turn, begin to consider the far-reaching
implications that come with knowing that emotions are indeed everywhere.

It is a great contribution to science that all participants in this Forum are focused
on theorizing the processes by which individual emotions become collective. They
use a macro or micro perspective or a combination of both.

Leading essays by Jonathan Mercer and Neta Crawford deal directly with the issue
of collective emotion. Mercer develops a psychologically based macromodel that
formulates a series of relationships between individual emotions and group
emotions. Showing that emotions are more than the sum of bodily sensations from
which they arise, he turns to beliefs and identities as sources of emotional
attribution. Thus, for Mercer, feelings can be sources of identification at the level
of states, even if the states themselves do not have physical bodies. Crawford
fleshes out the problem by theorizing the institutionalization of two specific
emotions: fear and empathy. Combining macro and micro approaches, she seeks to
understand how states and other institutions internalize certain emotional modes
and how, in turn, such emotional predispositions make certain political views
possible.

Looking at our world today, it does not take long to see or conclude that world
politics is overflowing with emotions. Nations adopt political views that involve
acute anxiety about an unreliable and hostile "outside world". The same countries,
paradoxically, can themselves be divided by emotional legacies left by historical
grievances and injustices. Military insurgent and extremist groups operate through
the strategic manipulation of fear and terror. States continue to speak harshly in an
effort to intimidate and deter "fraudsters" with threats of sanctions and military
action.

Although they are very different, these are some of the most obvious examples of
how emotions pervade our daily lives and beyond. Meanwhile, I believe that
emotions are already quite widely recognized as central to world politics.