Managing Emotions During Social Protests and the Political Subjectivity of the Protesters

Abstract

The paper’s aim is to check whether there is a relationship between the effectiveness of emotion management techniques and the protesters’ subjectivity level in Poland. In this case, it is necessary to analyse selected significant social protests in terms of the emotions felt by the ruling elites, the emotions they evoke among the protesters, and the level of political subjectivity possessed by the latter. In June 1956, the technique of masking emotion management was used effectively. The intensification technique in October was fully effective. In December 1970, only the use of the intensification technique brought results. In June 1976, the masking technique proved to be effective within a limited time range. In the summer of 1980, the party-state apparatus was not able to effectively manage emotions. The breakthrough was the introduction of martial law and forcing a significant part of society to be submissive and conformist. Managing emotions by intensifying them during the Women’s Strike proved to be partially effective. Crossing the threshold of subjectivity by opposition social groups makes the management of emotions generally ineffective. The paper offers an innovative research design for analysing the relationships between the management of emotions and the political subjectivity level.