emotions, culture and identity

fundamental argument for why to study emotions in IR

states are run by people who are driven by emotions

therefore states are driven by emotions

Marxist focus of emotions

focus on emotions like greed which are prominent in the capitalist system

liberalism focus of emotions

focus on optimism, progress and trust

3 levels of emotions

state level

leadership level

group level

• different situations require us to study emotions on different levels

link between history and emotions

idea of collective memory

• which can either bind or divide people

antagonistic memory

memories based off encouraging confrontation

cosmopolitan memory

memories that bring people together

how to study emotions

• art

• surveys

• how people communicate

inside out approach to study emotions

phycological perspective of emotions

• sees emotions as individual

• nature

outside in approach to studying emotions

sociocultural perspective of emotions

• sees emotions through groups

• nurture

voluntarism

we have control over our emotions

experimentalism

emotional experience is involuntary

insider model

views emotions as integral parts of political realities

outsider model

views emotions as causal variables

stud of emotions can have emancipatory results

feminism, postcolonialism

arguments against the study of emotions

realists focus on rationality which excludes emotions

• HOWEVER fear is often strongly linked to realism which is an emotion

IR scholars often have a masculine view of the world and exclude the study of emotions because they think it’s too feminine

can be challenging to study emotions

culture and emotions

culture/nurture (the environment someone is in) influences emotions

different cultures have different values

importance of tribal identity

especially important in post-colonial global South

• tribal identity pre-dates state identity

• basic human instinct to want to belong to a group

Wendt

identity gives us stable, role-specific expectations about oneself

intersubjectivity

identities depend on social interactions

identity formation is a process

Robert Cox

• All theory is made by someone for some purpose

• Nothing is objective

Koschut

'culture and social institutions regulate and structure individual emotions'

Zajonc 1980

emotions and cognition are seperate

Lazarus 1982

cognitive perception takes place over emotions

to feel emotions you have to understand what you’re feeling

Hume 2011

reason is a slave to passion

Hymans 2010

states are social groups with shared emotions

Hans Morgenthau

classical realist

fear is what drives states → fear is an emotion

Hutchinson

• Emotions had a taken for granted status in politics due to them being viewed in opposition to rationality

• Even those emotions are vital in key IR theories like realism and liberalism

• Study of collective emotions help understand collective actions

example of state level emotions

US national reaction after 9/11

importance of tribes

Pakistan government is somewhat powerless over 60% of the country due to power of tribes

culture in Iraq War 2003

importance of honour in Iraqi culture meant Saddam Hussain would rather die than appear weak by giving in to international pressures surrounding nuclear weapons

• the West didn’t appreciate this which then led to war

culture which divides East and West

• Asian values of collectivism and family

• Western values of individualism

Vietnam War

US policy makers failed in the war due to lack of focus on ethnic identities

War on Terror 2001

US failed to see that the Taliban was an ethnic movement not just a movement of Islamic fundamentalism

consequences of not recognising tribal identity in Iraq War 2003

Implementation of democracy would lead to a Shiite dominant government which would seek revenge on the Sunni minority led by Saddam Hussain

importance of identity politics in US

Trump using identity politics to gather working class support

European tribalism

seen in populist backlash of global elites → leading to Brexit

emotions in the European refugee crisis

photos of Syrian children in 2015 sparked focus on principals of human rights and ‘never gain’ after backlash over refugees