The Politics of Emotions and Empathy

Abstract

The role of empathy and emotions is increasingly being acknowledged across a diverse range of disciplines including neuroscience, psychology, peace studies, gender studies, international relations, psychology and philosophy. President Obama has referred to the ‘empathy deficit’ which pervades modern culture while writers have identified the current era as the ‘Age of Empathy’ (De Waal 2010; Rifkind 2010; Krznaric 2014). Such claims have global and political implications, yet there is a surprising lack of serious critical engagement across multiple disciplines to theorise these concepts and to empirically examine how they operate in the political sphere. This panel seeks to draw together scholars concerned with the international dimension of these issues. Drawing on the ‘affective turn’, this panel seeks to examine the role of emotions and empathy in contexts ranging from transnational politics and religion, processes of international criminal justice, to the security dilemma, and grassroots activism in Israel and Palestine.