The country(side) is angry

Emotion and Explanation in Protest Mobilization

Bibliographic Data

ID3977536
AuthorsMichael Wood (0000-0002-6216-142X), Michael Woods (0000-0003-3813-4138, Aberystwyth University), Mike Woods (0009-0002-6336-2829), Jon Anderson (0000-0002-6052-5154, Cardiff University), Steven Guilbert (Kingston University), Suzie Watkins, Suzie Watkin (Aberystwyth University)
Year2012
Volume13
Issue6
Pages567-585
Publication date2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2012.704643
OpenAlexW2068528728
LanguageEN
Citations received57
References cited46

The role of emotion in social movement mobilization and political protest has received renewed attention in the past decade. However, few, if any, studies have followed the emotional trajectories of activists through their involvement in protest activity. This paper explores the significance of emotion in rural protests in Britain since 1997. Drawing on first-hand and second-hand sources, it focuses on the emotions of participants in pro-hunting countryside marches and in farmers' demonstrations as they move through various stages of mobilization. It proposes the metaphor of a ‘ladder of emotions’ to describe the different emotions that are foregrounded as mobilization proceeds. It suggests that emotional responses to perceived threats to a landscape or place-rooted way of life to which individuals have an emotional attachment are important as motives for political mobilization. These individual emotions are subsequently translated into collective action as emotions such as anger, frustration and desperation guide pathways for action. Successful mobilization also relies on participants overcoming initial emotions of fear or trepidation at protest activity, giving way to emotions of pleasure and pride that enthuse activists and help reproduce and sustain campaigns

Action (physics · Anger · Collective action · Disgust · Metaphor · Mobilization · Pleasure · Political science · Politics · Pride · Psychotherapist · Social movement · Sociology · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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