Emotions in European Politics

Abstract

The credibility and legitimacy of EU institutions and policies have been eroded in the wake of failed referendums, poor crisis management and the Brexit. The challenges the EU is facing are complex and diverse, but they all have at least one dimension in common: their increasing emotional intensity. Despite this relevance there is still little academic knowledge on the expression and role of emotions in EU politics. Existing research on the role of emotions in attitudes towards and perceptions of the EU needs to be further developed. The role of emotions in decision-making is also an important research topic that has so far attracted little attention. EU decision-makers, especially Commission officials, are usually only pictured as rational and technocratic individuals. In addition, the opposition between reason and emotion is still prevalent in European politics. This assumption has been challenged by many scholars in a variety of disciplines affirming that emotions are part of rationality itself. The purpose of this panel is to bring together scholars analysing the expression and role of emotions in EU politics, including papers about citizen's emotions in these times of turbulence as well as emotions in European decision-making and in European public discourse.

Title	Details
Resentment, Social Cleavages and Euroscepticism: The Case of Belgium	View Paper Details
The Emotional Economy of Austerity: Affect in the World of Populism	View Paper Details
Explaining Failure in Decision-Making: Anger and Distrust in the Refugee Crisis	View Paper Details
Increasing affective polarization in Europe: Loathing across party lines or against populists?	View Paper Details