Constructing 'others' and a wider 'we' as emotional processes

A case of South Korea in times of crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID4480957
AuthorsJae-Eun Noh (0000-0001-9324-8192, The University of Western Australia, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume170
Issue1
Pages43-57
Publication date2022-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThesis Eleven (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-5136 • E-ISSN: 1461-7455
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/07255136221102221
OpenAlexW4281395704
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited60

This article examines how growing fears, insecurities and uncertainties during the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted an emotional distance from others. The aim is to explore how global solidarity and nationalism are challenged and constructed as collective emotional processes concerning 'others'. Drawing on social theories of emotions during crises and emotions towards others, this study looks at policy decisions around vaccines and health services and their associated emotions in the context of Korea, which has a relatively small migrant population and a short history of supporting people in lower-income countries. The study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened nationalism, both ethnic nationalism and cosmopolitan nationalism. This points to the need to highlight global norms such as human rights and justice and cultivate foundational emotions such as empathy and compassion. This article suggests paying attention to the role of emotions in generating othering practices and developing global solidarity

Compassion · Empathy · Human rights · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · Solidarity · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social Psychology · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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