Playing the fool: Activists' performances of emotion in policy making spaces

The Role of Emotion in Enabling and Conditioning Public Deliberation Outcomes: A Sociological Investigation

“…These studies suggest that on the one hand emotional engagements can lead to passionately argued contributions, strong identification with issues, and enhanced cognitive engagement (Davies et al ). On the other hand, the legitimacy conferred by emotive discourse may lead to ‘closures of deliberation’ that exclude vulnerable voices from the process (Martin ), validate morally pre‐agreed outcomes (Anderson ) or – more worryingly – allow for managerial manipulation of laypeople (Hodge ). But how can we trace the impact of such emotional underpinnings of deliberation on organizational outcomes?…”

“…Helen's emotional engagement inflects her perceived role (defined in opposition to expected ‘professional’ standards of deliberation) and, in disrupting the professionals' discussion, steps beyond the deliberation process itself. In so doing, biographical affect affords an alternative ‘framing structure’ through which Helen is able to challenge deliberation's relationship with the ‘“reality” of the things under discussion’ (Anderson , p. 5).…”

Managing enthusiasm: Between ‘extremist’ volunteers and ‘rational’ professional practices in architectural conservation

“…Whereas activists are often associated with first hand, emotional knowledge of a situation which acts as a counter to the abstract rational knowledge that professionals must perform (Anderson, 2014), in the case of the Society's volunteers, they, too, must perform as experts. Volunteering for the Society in their casework, individuals are required to fulfil a role as, what Hewitt and Pendlebury (2014, p. 34) call, ''expert citizens" -providing professional expertise to fill gaps in official knowledge or paid positions for the Twentieth Century Society.…”

“…Anderson's (2014) study of the role of emotion in policymaking highlights the need to rely not only on interviews, but also on participant observation, in researching emotion, expert knowledge and the role of the activist. Jones and Yarrow (2013), too, demonstrate the value of an ethnographic approach including observation of work, guided tours, informal conversations and interviews in understanding conservation practice as an embodied, messy process involving multiple actors and negotiations over authenticity and value.…”

“…Unlike community groups, who are often seen as valuable as sites of ''lay knowledge" (ibid. ), which is understood as emotional, embodied and grounded in local contexts (Anderson, 2014), organisations like the Twentieth Century Society are valued as sites of expert and rational knowledge. Thus whilst the work and activities of the Society are undergirded by enthusiasm -driving membership and volunteering -this enthusiasm must be managed.…”