Emotions in politics: democratic participation, belonging and division
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission deadline
This Collection supports and amplifies research related toSDG 10 - Reduced inequalities and SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions.
Emotions are central to political life. Feelings such as hope, anger, fear, pride, compassion and resentment influence how people understand political events, relate to institutions and political communities, and decide whether and how to participate in public life. Far from being simply private responses, emotions can become collective and politically consequential, shaping patterns of mobilisation, identification, solidarity and conflict.
The political significance of emotions is particularly visible in contemporary democracies. Emotional appeals can encourage participation, strengthen a sense of collective responsibility and mobilise support for social or political change. At the same time, emotions can contribute to polarisation, deepen social divisions and reinforce exclusionary understandings of political community. Populist and radical political movements, for example, frequently draw upon feelings of grievance, resentment, nostalgia, anxiety or perceived loss, while movements for democratic reform and social justice may mobilise hope, solidarity, dignity and collective empowerment.
This Collection aims to advance interdisciplinary research on the role of emotions in political participation, democratic life and collective political identities. We welcome contributions from political science, international relations, sociology, history, anthropology, philosophy, media and communication studies, and related disciplines.
Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- The role of emotions in democratic participation, political engagement and civic life
- Hope, solidarity, compassion and other emotions associated with collective action and democratic change
- Fear, anger, resentment, grievance and nostalgia in populist, radical or exclusionary politics
- Emotions, political identity and belonging, including national, ethnic, religious and other forms of collective identification
- Emotional dimensions of political polarisation, social division and political conflict
- Political leadership, rhetoric and the strategic mobilisation of emotions
- Emotions and relationships between citizens, political institutions and democratic processes
- Historical and comparative perspectives on emotional cultures in political life
- The role of media and digital communication in amplifying, circulating or transforming political emotions
- Gender, generation, class, race and other dimensions of inequality in the experience and expression of political emotions
- Conceptual and methodological approaches to researching emotions in politics
We particularly encourage comparative, interdisciplinary and geographically diverse contributions that examine how political emotions operate across different institutional, historical and cultural settings. By bringing together research on participation, mobilisation, identity and democratic conflict, this Collection seeks to deepen understanding of how emotions shape political communities and influence both the possibilities and the tensions of contemporary democratic life.
