The politics of anger continues to dominate public discourse, but being swayed by appeals to emotion in politics may further our slide into authoritarianism.
The UK local elections are taking place on Thursday 7 May, and as has been the case in most elections in recent history, strong feelings over issues like the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, immigration, and the cost of living, seem to be fuelling voter intentions.
The manipulation of feelings, particularly anger, in politics has become common in Western democracies, with politicians, activists, and citizens supporting the idea that people have a right to be angry about the way the world has, or has not, been working.
New research from the University of Birmingham argues that this prioritisation of feeling over reason risks allowing democracies to slide into authoritarianism, with sentiment being used for coercive and propagandist purposes, especially by populist actors.
This argument has been set out in a new book by Professor Lisa Downing, Against Affect. Her research shows that emotion has been historically gendered and racialised, with women and people of colour being associated with emotionality, and white men with logic and reason.
By operating in this way, we are allowing ourselves to have our feelings used against us, manipulating us and potentially paving the way for populist and authoritarian figures to take hold of power.
The 1990s saw a so-called ‘affective turn’ in academia, intended to redress this injustice, with academics including the bodily, emotive, and experiential realms as valid areas of study. However, this tendency has leaked into public discourse and has led us down an unintentionally reactionary road - where sentiment is now more valued than reason, on all points of the political compass. It nevertheless remains the case that being overly emotional is still ascribed to women and people of colour.
Professor Downing said: “Since the Enlightenment, white men have been seen as the bastions of reason, whereas women and people of colour were assumed to be overly emotional and incapable of reason. Whilst the efforts to correct this prejudiced and inaccurate view were well-intentioned, we find ourselves in a moment at which feeling is now largely valued over reason.”
“By operating in this way, we are allowing ourselves to have our feelings used against us, manipulating us and potentially paving the way for populist and authoritarian figures to take hold of power.”
Relatedly, empathy is understood to be an absolute good in society; to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes means we can relate to people. But, Against Affect suggests that our prioritisation of sentiment has created ‘emotion on speed,’ the ability not only to feel acutely, but to feel other people’s feelings, even when this might not be needed or wanted. What the book argues for instead is strategic, reasoned solidarity.
It is unsurprising that we respond emotionally to the current state of the world and our leaders, but we increasingly risk closing down space for rational discussion and debate.
The manipulation of emotion is something that is exploited by both left-wing and right-wing actors, Professor Downing argues. Whilst those on the left may view causing someone to feel offence as a form of literal violence, those on the right will paint their opponents as ‘snowflakes', whilst simultaneously casting themselves as the ‘victims,’ under threat from such forces as feminism and globalisation.
Professor Downing added: “Across political discourse, emotive critique is being prioritised over reason, ironically, often by those wielding a putative right-wing ‘common-sense’ form of ‘reason’ as their mode of attack on the excesses of the left.
“It is unsurprising that we respond emotionally to the current state of the world and our leaders, but we increasingly risk closing down space for rational discussion and debate. People need to feel able to say what they mean, to talk about difficult topics without fear of censure and to think critically about how their valid emotions may be being manipulated in harmful directions.”
The book calls for the values of freedom of expression, however hurtful, and reason as an ideal, if not always a perfectly executable one, to be reinstated in public and academic discourse. This, Professor Downing concludes, is the most likely pathway to realising the fullest potential of both liberty for the self and compassion and respect for others.
For more information, please contact Ellie Hail, Communications Officer, University of Birmingham at e.hail@bham.ac.uk or alternatively on +44 (0)7966 311 409. You can also contact the press office on +44 (0) 121 414 2772.
Professor of French Discourses of Sexuality
Biographical and contact information for Lisa Downing, Professor of French Discourses of Sexuality at the University of Birmingham.
