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WiSe 20/21: Solidarity, Conflict and Emotion

Philipp Wunderlich

Comments

Analyzing emotional dynamics contributes considerably to our understanding of how social groups constitute themselves and why they enter into conflicts with other groups. On an individual level, emotions are crucial for the evaluation of situations and experiences and reflect embodied and culturally shaped norms. On a collective level, they play an important role for the formation of in-group solidarity and the alignment of values, beliefs and norms within on the one hand and for out-group derogation and antagonistic action tendencies collectives on the other hand. In this seminar, students will first acquire theoretical background knowledge on sociological theories of emotion, focusing especially on intergroup- and shared emotions, the formation of emotional climates as well as on the role of specific discrete emotions like anger, fear, shame or envy for social antagonisms. Second, different empirical examples will serve as illustrations for the application and critical discussion of the gained conceptual insights. These include phenomena such as political populism in European countries, protest movements, hate-speech in social media contexts and international relations and peacemaking. close