Learning to Feel: The Neglected Sociology of Social Movements

Abstract

This paper discusses the experience and ideology of emotions among animal rights activists, and more broadly, the applicability of the sociology of emotions to the field of social movements. I examine the case of a social movement which relies heavily on empathy in its initial recruitment, and which has been derisively labeled by outsiders as ‘emotional’. I explain recruitment to animal rights activism by showing how activists develop a ‘vocabulary of emotions’ to rationalize their participation to others and themselves, along with managing the emotional tone of the movement by limiting the kinds of people who can take part in debates about animal cruelty. The interactive nature in which emotions develop in social movements is stressed over previous approaches to emotions in the social movement literature, which treat emotions as impulsive or irrational.

Group interaction as the crucible of social identity formation: A glimpse at the foundations of social identities for collective action

“…Another possibility is that, as group members engage with the problems confronting people in developing countries, their emotions transition from 'raw' experiences of anger, to more situated 'normative' expressions of emotion (see ; such a pattern is reportedly typical of long-term activists (e.g. Groves, 1995). Future research could test the reliability of this effect and consider these possibilities.…”

“I don't really want to be associated with the self-righteous left extreme”: Disincentives to participation in collective action

“…It is possible that autonomy concerns could be more operative during different stages of identity development (see Groves, 1995;Hansson & Jacobsson, 2014;Kovan & Dirkx, 2003;Livingstone, 2014 on the transformative effect of participation), or when attempting to integrate multiple complex identities . Moreover, conflictual intragroup relations might threaten autonomy despite identification at a more abstract psychological group level -as the reality of working alongside other people can be fraught (Harré et al, 2009;Moreland & Levine, 1982).…”

Collective action as relational interaction: A new relational hypothesis on how non-activists become activists

“…Most strikingly, it explains why activists' experience of groupbased anger toward the outgroup, authority, or system are no longer predictive of their participation in collective action: They have rejected their former authority ranking relationship. This reflects a new explanation for why the experience of group-based anger among activists has relatively little motivational power (for others see Groves, 1995;Thomas et al, 2009Thomas et al, , 2012.…”

“…Groves (1995), for instance, suggests that activists learn to strategically experience and express their emotions in appropriate ways, which implies that their emotional experience and expression will be very sensitive to the different audiences and contexts they encounter in social interaction. In a similar vein, Thomas et al (2009) suggest that activists may experience group-based anger or outrage as a group norm rather than as an emotional state.…”