The effects of affects: The place of emotions in the mobilizations of 2011

Abstract

We have recently seen the proliferation of a variety of progressive, democratic social movements across the globe. In the wake of various contradictions and implosions of capitalism, from the meltdown of the US banks to the euro crisis, vast numbers of people have challenged neoliberal globalization. In this article the authors offer a theoretical frame for the analysis of the most recent challenges posed to neoliberal social and economic policies as they were shaped in late capitalism. The authors first note Habermas’s thesis that legitimation crises take place at both the macro and micro levels, and that they foster various understandings as well as emotional reactions. The authors focus on the emotional aspects that are vital to social mobilizations. To do this they draw on theoretical frames from social movement and the sociology of emotion perspectives. More particularly they see the process of ‘emotional liberation’ coined by Flam, as the equivalent of McAdam’s ‘cognitive liberation’ and both as part of the process of subjectivation as put forward by Touraine. These formulations lead to considerations of the emotions that tie people to authorities and/or withdraw legitimacy from authorities, in order to understand which emotions need be mobilized in order to liberate people from their loyalty to authorities. The authors found a constellation of incongruent emotions such as distrust and disrespect for authorities/elites or their perceived agents, indignation and righteous anger, humiliation, and in turn hope for an alternative future. The value of the authors’ proposed structure of argument lies in the powerful combination of macro and micro processes and the combination of cognition and emotions.