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EMOTIONS OF PROTEST
Dunya van Troost Jacquelien van Stekelenburg
Bert Klandermans
Dept. of Sociology VU University Amsterdam
Politics—and especially politics of protest—are full of emotions. People are angry about
austerity measures, thrilled or fearful about the Arab Spring and indignant because they want
real democracy now!1 Clearly, there is an emotional side to how people react to their social and
political environment (e.g. Conover & Feldman, 1986; Lyman, 2004; Marcus, 2003; Marcus,
Neuman, & MacKuen, 2000; Way & Masters, 1996). Politics of protest are imbued with
emotions. In fact, protest is inconceivable without emotions (Jasper, 1997). It are emotions
which “give ideas, ideologies, identities and even interests their power to motivate” (Jasper,
1997, p 127).
Emotions have become a popular research area in the study of contentious politics. Such
was not always the case. Classic breakdown theories on collective action used emotion terms as
explanatory variables but equated emotion with irrationality. As rational approaches like
resource mobilization theory (e.g. McCarthy & Zald, 1976) or political process theory (e.g.
McAdam, 1982) became the state of the art, protesters were seen as ‘rationally’ motivated actors,
and emotional aspects were left out the explanatory models (Goodwin & Jasper, 1999).
Nevertheless, around the beginning of the 21st century, the previously held implicit assumption
that emotion and rationality contrast each other has been refuted (Aminzade & McAdam, 2002;
Emirbayer & Goldberg, 2005; Gould, 2009).
Organizers of protest do not feel constrained by whatever paradigmatic shift. ‘Emotion
work’ has always been key to the organization of protest. Take the following quote from
Malcolm X: “Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their
condition. But when they get angry, they bring about social change.” Malcolm X points to an
important characteristic of emotions; that is, that emotions propel behavior, but perhaps even
more important, different emotions propel different behavior. This is the basic tenet of appraisal
theory of emotions. A second central tenet of appraisal theory is that people can evaluate―or
appraise―the same event differently and consequently have different emotional responses. This
chapter will lay out a theoretical framework that links individuals’ appraisals of the socio-
political context to emotions of protest. Appraisals―particularly group-based appraisals―play a
crucial role in that respect. As people categorize themselves as group members, individual
emotions turn into group-based emotions; “I feel for us”. Group-based appraisals shape group-
based emotions, and consequently collective behavior. Our theoretical model― as depicted in
1 Cf. The Spanish Indignados who claim Democracia real ya!
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Figure 1―holds protest emotions dependent on the socio-political context in which a contested
issue emerges. This relationship between context and emotion is mediated by
appraisals―evaluations―of the social and political context. The resulting emotions interact with
the motivation to participate in protest or to abstain from it.
Figure 1: Model of the socio-political context, emotions and protest behavior
Emotions are socially constructed. In other words, the experience of emotions is influenced by
norms, values and culture. Goodwin et al. (2001) argue that “some emotions are more socially
constructed than others, involving more cognitive processes” (p. 13). In their view, emotions that
are politically relevant are―more than other emotions―at the social construction end of the
scale. For these emotions, cultural and historical factors play an important role in the
interpretation of the state of affairs by which they are generated. People might be puzzled by
some aspects of reality and try to understand what is going on. They may look for others with
similar experiences and a social movement may provide an environment to exchange
experiences, to tell their stories and to express their feelings. Social movements are carriers of
meaning and organizers do their utmost to create moral outrage and to provide a target against
which this can be vented. They must weave together a moral, cognitive, and emotional package
of attitudes. Organizers appeal to ‘attack emotions’ such as anger to create “fire in the belly and
iron in the soul” (Gamson, 1992, p. 32). However, ‘just’ being angry is not enough, as Martin
Luther King aptly stated: “It is not enough for people to be angry - the supreme task is to
organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.” Social movements
use their power, resources and creativity to turn individual grievances and emotions into
collective claims and to stage opportunities to act upon these claims. In the pages to come we
will first define emotions and then theorize about appraisal theory of emotions. In that context
we will outline appraisals deemed to be important in the context of protest and the related
emotions. Next, we discuss emotions and the related behavioral intentions before, during and
after protest. The chapter closes with a section in which we assess where we stand and propose
directions to proceed.
Socio-political
context
Protest behaviour
Emotion Group based
appraisal Action tendency
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Defining emotions of protest
Emotions can be distinguished from mere feelings or moods by their relation to a specific
object or idea. Our description on emotions of protest distinguishes between three objects of
emotion: the opponent, the in-group, and contentious issues (Jasper, 1998). Protesters are likely
to experience negative emotions towards their opponent and the contentious issue, while they
most likely feel positive emotions towards the group they identify with (Goodwin & Jasper,
2006). Yang (2000) for instance found negative emotions, anger, outrage, shame and fear elicited
by interactions with opponents (in this case Chinese authorities), while positive emotions as joy,
compassion and pride were elicited in the interaction with other activists inside the movement
(1989 Chinese student movement). The fact that moods and feelings are not related to a specific
object or idea does not imply that they have no impact on protest behavior. Contrary to that,
public mood―mood resulting from group membership (Rahn, 2004)― provides feedback to
people about how the group (i.e., the political community) is faring. Research has demonstrated
that people in a positive mood display more self-efficacy, are more optimistic, and show more
associative cognitive processes, while a negative mood, on the other hand, is related to higher
risk perception, pessimism, and more rule-based cognitive processes (Forgas, 2001). In other
words, the ‘emotional barometer’ in a country might trigger different (risk) perceptions,
cognitive styles and emotions. This suggests that public mood might influence the claims social
movement organizations make, the way problems are framed, the emotions that are experienced
and the motivations to participate in protest.
Multiple protest emotions. People evaluate similar events differently and consequently
have different emotional responses. Protesters in the same event can thus experience different
emotions. To illustrate the variety of motives for participation in an event and the multiple
emotions triggered by grievances we draw on the Belgian Dutroux case. This case revolved
around Marc Dutroux, who was arrested in August 1996, and later convicted for the kidnapping,
hostage taking, rape and murder of several young girls, acts which on their own violate many
social norms. However, it became a politically contested issue because the Belgian
authorities―police and judicial courts―made gross mistakes while investigating this case.
These mistakes undermined citizens’ trust in legislative enforcement (Fijnout, 1999), and
triggered a protest of 300.000 citizens (Walgrave & Manssens, 2005; Walgrave & Rihoux,
1998). The motives for people to participate in this so-called ‘White March’ were very diverse,
varying from the expression of solidarity with the parents of the victims, disapproval of
pedophilia, or a plea to reform the Belgian justice and/or political system (Walgrave & Rihoux,
1998). The example of the White March illustrates how in real life settings people experience
multiple emotions. Dutroux is met with outrage, the justice system is resented and the parents of
the victims receive solidarity and empathy (Walgrave & Verhulst, 2006).
People can experience multiple emotions at the same time or in very close “temporal
proximity” (Barbalet, 2002; Benski, 2011; Flam, 2005). In fact, people hardly ever experience a
single emotion, instead they display a mixture of emotions. Benski (2011) suggests using the
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concept of emotional constellation to explore these mixtures of emotions. She presents an
overview of emotions as they are experienced by female peace activists in Israel. Her findings
indicate that protesters are likely to display combinations of emotions in response to multifaceted
social and political situations. Emotional constellations may induce congruent or incongruent
action tendencies. In case of congruent action tendencies, the behavioral intentions are expected
to be strengthened. Anger and frustration, for example, both motivate aggressive behavior; the
White March protesters may have been outraged, wishing to retaliate Dutroux , and frustrated
with the inability of the authorities to properly fulfill their tasks. Both emotions and action
tendencies reinforce each other and enhance an individual’s motivation to take onto the streets.
However, in case of incongruent emotions action tendencies conflict (Benski, 2011). Incongruent
emotions―like fear which activates escape and flight behavior and anger which activates attack
behavior―may induce a tendency to flight and fight at the same time. This incongruence―or
cross pressure―can neutralize the inclination to flight and may lead to protest participation
(Benski, 2011, p. 29).
Appraisal theory of emotion
People are continuously evaluating or appraising the relevance of their environment for
their well being and these appraisals help account for different emotions (Arnold, 1960). Lazarus
proposed the distinction between primary appraisal, that is the assessment of an event’s
implications for one’s well-being and secondary appraisal, the assessment of one’s ability to
cope with the situation (Lazarus, 1966). After a fast and automatic evaluation of these first
appraisal dimensions, other dimensions are evaluated: How does the event influence my goals?
Who or what caused the event? Do I have control and power over the consequences of the event?
Are the consequences of the event compatible with my personal values and (societal) norms? It
is thus the personal meaning we give to ambiguous stimuli through appraisals that determines
emotions we feel. Hence, emotional experiences are a function of characteristics of the situation
and the person (Kuppens & Tong, 2010). This implies that it is a person’s perspective at the
situation, not the situation per se, which results in an emotional response. This emotional
response is a combination of physical arousal, associated feelings and thoughts (Scherer, 2000;
Scherer & Peper, 2001) leading to emotion expression and an action tendency (Clore & Ortony,
2000; Smith & Lazarus, 1990).
A major claim made by appraisal theorists is that objectively similar situations or events
can elicit, in different individuals, highly dissimilar emotional reactions depending on
idiosyncratic subjective appraisals. A number of empirical studies has confirmed this and has
shown that a limited number of appraisal dimensions is sufficient to explain emotional
differentiation. Scherer and Ceschi (1997), for example, tested cognitive appraisal theory in a
field study. In a major international airport, passengers reporting their luggage lost to the
baggage retrieval service were interviewed after their interaction with an airline agent. They
were asked to rate their emotional state before and after the interaction with the agent and to
provide information on how they had appraised the situation. The results show that the goal
conduciveness check is by far the most important predictor: perceived high obstructiveness of
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the loss was leading to anger and worry while low obstructiveness led to indifference and good
humor. After goal conduciveness coping potential was the most important predictor. Travelers
who thought that they had sufficient coping potential to deal with the lost luggage event were
angry whereas travelers with low coping potential experienced sadness. Two persons can thus
appraise the same event―the experience of lost luggage―differently and have different
emotional responses resulting in different action tendencies.
Action tendencies are the inclination to respond to a situation with particular behavior
(Frijda, Kuipers, & ter Schure, 1989). These authors suggest that behavior is organized in two
systems. To take advantage of a beneficial situation appetitive behavior, such as care giving, is
activated. In threatening situations the defensive system is activated, stimulating behavior such
as escape, attack and withdrawal (Bradley, Codispoti, Cuthbert, & Lang, 2001; Frijda, 2007).
When feeling afraid people experience the urge to run away while sadness induces inactivity
(Roseman, Wiest, & Swartz, 1994). Anger, on the other hand induces aggressive behavior like
the urge of wanting to hurt someone. This aggressive aspect provides a reason why particularly
anger appears to be able to mobilize aggrieved individuals to fight for what they believe is right.
Nerb and Spada (2001) conducted three experimental studies to investigate the relation
between the cognitive appraisal of environmental problems, the development of distinct
emotions (anger and sadness), and the resulting action tendencies. The participants in their
studies read a fictitious but realistic newspaper report about an environmental problem (a tanker
running aground in a severe storm and spilling oil into the North Sea). Different experimental
conditions were realized: (a) the tanker did not fulfill the safety guidelines; the damage could
have been avoided (high controllability); (b) the tanker did fulfill the safety guidelines; the
damage could not have been avoided (low controllability). It turned out that the more
controllable the event the more angry people were and, important for our discussion, the more
willing to participate in a boycott (Nerb & Spada, 2001). However, if the participants were to
believe that the damage could not have been avoided, they were sad, which did not translate into
action preparedness.
Group-based appraisal theories of emotions. Appraisal theory was developed to explain
personal emotions experienced by individuals. Yet, “the self” implicated in emotion-relevant
appraisals is clearly not only a personal or individual self. If group membership becomes part of
the self, events that harm or favor an in-group by definition harm or favor the self, and the self
might thus experience affect and emotions on behalf of the in-group. With such considerations in
mind Smith (1993) developed a model of intergroup emotions that was predicated on social
identification with the group. Since collective action is by definition a group phenomenon and
group identification an important factor in determining collective action we will elaborate on the
possible implications of group-based emotions on protest behavior.
The main postulate of intergroup emotion theory (as spelled out by Smith in 1993) is that
when a social identity is salient, situations are appraised in terms of their consequences for that
in-group, eliciting specific intergroup emotions and behavioral intentions. In three studies
Mackie, Devos and Smith (2000) tested this idea. Participants’ group memberships were made
salient and the collective support enjoyed by the ingroup was measured or manipulated. The
authors then measured anger and fear (Studies 1 and 2) and anger and contempt (Study 3), as
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well as the desire to move against or away from the out-group. Participants who perceived the in-
group as strong were more likely to experience anger toward the outgroup and to desire to take
action against it. Participants who perceived the ingroup as weak on the other hand, were more
likely to experience fear and to move away from the outgroup. The effects of perceived ingroup
strength on offensive action tendencies were mediated by anger. Results of these three studies
confirm that when a collective identity is salient, appraisals of events in terms of consequences
for the salient ingroup lead to specific emotional responses and action tendencies towards the
outgroup.
Smith and colleagues investigated how identity predicted social emotions. Recent studies
address the role of social identification in a more explicit way (Dumont, Yzerbyt, Wigboldus, &
Gordijn, 2003; Gordijn, Wigboldus, & Yzerbyt, 2001; Yzerbyt, Dumont, Gordijn, & Wigboldus,
2002; Yzerbyt, Dumont, Wigboldus, & Gordijn, 2003). These scholars argue that “people can,
under certain conditions, be connected to others in such a way that they are likely to experience
emotions even though they themselves are not directly confronted with the triggering situation”
(p. 535), in their words: “I feel for us” (p. 533).
These studies suggest that the same emotion processes (i.e. appraisals, emotions and
action tendencies) operating at the individual level and in interpersonal situations operate in
intergroup situations. Moreover, people do experience emotions on behalf of their group
membership. Since intergroup emotion theory is based on the presumption that the group is
incorporated in the self (“the group is in me”, thus “I feel for us”) one would assume that the
more the group is in me (i.e. the higher the group identification) the more people experience
group-based emotions. Yzerbyt et al. (2003) showed that indeed emotional reactions fully
mediated the impact of categorization context and identification on action tendencies. In other
words, the salience of similarity was found to generate angry feelings among participants only to
the extent that they strongly identified with the relevant category. Thus people will experience
group-based emotions when the social category is salient and they identify with the group at
stake.
Appraisals, emotions, protest
A growing body of appraisal theories of emotions has emerged, each specifying a set of appraisal
dimensions in an attempt to better predict the elicitation and differentiation of emotions see (see
Roseman, Antoniou, & Jose, 1996 for a theoretical overview and integration). Given the high
degree of convergence between different appraisal theories we will depart from the improved
appraisal theory of Roseman and colleagues (1996), since this theory is an evaluation, revision
and integration of the till then proposed appraisal theories of emotions. Roseman et al. (1996)
intended to provide a systematic account of appraisal-emotion relationships. It is systematic in
that: (a) it specifies how a small number of appraisal dimensions combine to elicit a large
numbers of emotions; (b) it identifies the particular emotions that result from all possible
combinations of these appraisals; and (c) it shows how these emotions are related to each other
within an emotion system. The theory specifies which emotions are closely related (e.g. guilt and
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shame) and which are more distantly related (e.g. hope and pride); identifies families of related
emotions whose eliciting conditions differ in a single appraisal dimension; and predicts which
changes in appraisal are necessary to transform one felt emotion into any other.
Inspired by appraisal theory of emotion, we develop a framework which delineates how
(group-based) appraisals of aspects in the socio-political environment result in emotions of
protests. Appraisals deemed important in the context of protest are: goal facilitation /obstruction,
control and responsibility. Appraisals of goal facilitation elicit positive emotions while
appraisals of goal obstruction elicit negative emotions. Emotions motivating protest behavior are
in all likelihood caused by events or situations perceived as goal obstruction. Emotions
experienced during protest activity, on the other hand may be goal facilitative because
participating in protest can be seen as a way “of saying something about oneself and one’s
morals, and of finding joy and pride in them” (Jasper, 1998, p. 415). However, pessimistic
protesters who are afraid that the protest activity won’t make any difference may experience goal
obstruction, and consequently feel frustrated rather than proud. The appraisal of control refers to
the comparison of one’s own power or control to the potency or controllability of the stimulus. It
refers to whether one could “do something about an event” (Roseman et al. p. 262). Roseman et
al. show that “it is not the ability to cope with an event, but rather the perceived ability to control
or do something about its goal incongruent aspects that elicit an emotion which will contend with
a situation (such as frustration or anger) rather than an emotion which will accommodate to it
(such as sadness)” (p. 262). An additional appraisal important in the context of protest is
responsibility. A situation can be caused intentionally or unintentionally by the individual self,
others or circumstances beyond human control (Moors, 2010). The dimension of responsibility
provides direction to what circumstances or which actors are accountable for the harm or benefit
that the situation poses.
We draw on concepts used within the social movement literature to translate these
appraisals into a framework predicting emotions in the context of protest. We argue that issues or
events may be appraised in terms of being facilitative or obstructive for collective goals. An
event or socio-political situation may facilitate citizens to pursue their interests and principles.
Events may also threaten citizens’ interests and principles and accordingly elicit appraisals of
goal obstruction. These appraisals of goal facilitation and obstruction are visualized in the two
middle panels of Table 1. The right hand panel of Table 1 differentiates between appraisals of
control based on collective efficacy and political trust. The reasoning is as follows, in the context
of politics the more people have the idea that they can do something about an event, the more
efficacious they are. Additionally, the more trustworthy they regard their political authorities, the
more control they perceive to have through their political representatives. The left hand panel,
finally, differentiates between the attribution of responsibility for the issue at stake. Threats to
interests and principles, can be caused by circumstances—take for instance a natural disaster—
additionally the out-group can be hold accountable or in case of self blame the in-group is held
responsible. Table 1 identifies the particular emotions that result from all possible combinations
of these appraisals. Table 1 reads as follows: austerity measures, for instance, obstructs the goal
the movement strives for (middle right panel), in case people attribute this goal obstruction to be
caused by circumstances―the global economic crises―and have the idea that they cannot do
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anything about it, they will be fearful. However, if their coping potential is high―strong
efficaciousness and trust in politics―the situation is likely to elicit a sense of frustration. In case
austerity measures obstruct people’s collective goals―collective salary raise―but they hold an
out-group―e.g. government―accountable and have high coping potential―efficaciousness and
trust in politics―they will be angry.
Responsibility Collective Goal
Facilitative Obstructive Coping potential
Caused by
circumstances Hope, Joy, Relief
Fear, Sadness Low
Frustration High
Out-group responsible Solidarity Anger, Contempt High
In-group responsible Pride Regret Low
Guilt, Shame High
Table 1: Protest emotions and their appraisals
Protest emotions and their action tendencies
In this section we indentify the behavioral consequences of the emotions mentioned in Table 1.
Following Jasper (1997, p 127) we assume that emotions “give ideas, ideologies, identities and
even interests their power to motivate” and as such play a key role in the whole campaign.
Protest emotions thus function as accelerators or amplifiers. Accelerators make something move
faster, and amplifiers make something sound louder. In the world of protest ‘accelerating’ means
that due to emotions motives to enter, stay or leave a social movement translate into action faster,
while ‘amplifying’ means that these motives are stronger. We discuss emotions of protest along a
chronological time line, that is, before, during and after protest events. The implications of
emotions and their action tendencies―to either impair of fuel protest behavior―will be an
important aspect of our discussion.
Prior to protest
Emotions prior to protest are mostly caused by goal obstruction, emotional responses and
the related action tendencies are further differentiated by appraisals of responsibility, that is do
people believe that the events is caused by circumstances, the out-group or the ingroup. If goal
obstruction is attributed to circumstances, fear sadness and frustration are the most likely
emotions, however, when goal obstruction is attributed to the out-group, anger or contempt will
prevail, while in case the ingroup is blamed, emotions as regret, guilt and shame are expected.
Anger is deemed to be a pivotal emotion in the emotional constellation of protest participants
(Leach, Iyer, & Pedersen, 2006; Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2007; Van Stekelenburg &
Klandermans, 2010; van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004; Van Zomeren, Leach &
Spears, 2012). Anger is associated with the action tendency to attack, it moves people to adopt a
more challenging relationship with authorities than subordinate emotions such as shame and
despair (Taylor, 2009) or fear (Klandermans et al., 2008). Anger motivates people to seek justice
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and retribution and act against the actor held responsible for their grievances (Smith & Lazarus,
1990). Precisely these action tendencies are important qualifiers in the context of protest, it will
therefore not come as a surprise that organizers do their utmost to evoke feelings of anger in their
constituency. Empirical evidence confirms this relationship. In Dutch street demonstrations, for
instance, anger amplified and accelerated motives to participate (Van Stekelenburg,
Klandermans, & Van Dijk, 2011). In Spain, subjects were asked whether they supported or
rejected the negotiations of their government with terrorist organisation ETA and how they felt
about this. Angry participants were motivated to participate in protest against this decision while
those who were worried chose to not participate (Sabucedo, Duran, Alzate, & Rodriguez, 2011).
Anger is mainly observed in the context of actions that conform to the norms of the existing
social system (such as taking part in lawful demonstration). In actions that violate existing social
rules (such as illegal protests and violent actions) contempt appears to be the more relevant
emotion (Fischer & Roseman, 2007; Tausch, Becker, Spears, & Christ, 2008). Emotions such as
anger and contempt are likely to be nurtured by social movement organizations for their
oppositional action tendencies. These action tendencies are useful to counteract the inward and
safety seeking tendencies of emotions such as fear and anxiety or replace vulnerability, guilt or
shame (Flam, 2005, p. 26).
Appraisals of control also shape emotions prior to protest: people who perceive the
ingroup as strong are more likely to experience anger and desire to take action; people who
perceive the ingroup as weak are more likely to feel fearful and to move away from the outgroup
(Devos, Silver, & Mackie, 2002; Klandermans, Van der Toorn, & Van Stekelenburg, 2008). Fear
is thought to be an emotion that protesters need to overcome before they can participate in
collective action (Flam, 2005). Although this does not immediately prompt protest behaviour,
fear can―under the right conditions― persuade individuals to change their behaviour (Turner
2007; Witte and Allen 2000; Leach, Iyer, and Pedersen 2006). One such condition is that
organizers of protest successfully attribute responsibility to the out-group rather than to
circumstances. Hence, a natural disaster such as the tsunami in Fukushima may evoke fear,
however, as authorities are blamed for neglected maintenance to the reactor, fear converts into
anger. Another condition is when fear is accompanied by high coping potentials. Aminzade and
McAdam refer to such a condition. They argue that even intense fear, in the face of extreme risks
and seemingly no hope for payoff, can motivate action (2001; p17). What is needed for this to
occur is that fear is accompanied by other emotions that have a high coping potential such as
anger which will lead motives to participate to prevail over motives to withdraw.
Guilt, shame and regret are social emotions, intertwined with our attachment to other in-
group members. The action tendency of emotions like guilt and regret is to approach in an effort
to make amends. The action tendency associated with shame is to distance faults made by an
individual or his group in the past from the individual or his group at present (Fischer, 2010).
These emotions are not likely to lead to protest, but are more likely to caution an individual to
not transgress social norms and values. People become motivated to correct their own behaviour
which indirectly yields them to prevent future transgression and thus change the social situation.
An example of the role these emotions play has been provided by Leach and colleagues.
Although individuals who were part of the dominant society in Australia expressed guilt and
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shame in reaction to the suppression of aboriginals, it did not instigate a strong willingness to
engage into action on behalf of the aboriginals. Guilt and shame are therefore considered as
relatively weak predictors of willingness to act (Leach et al., 2006). Perhaps because there are
more suitable ways to show remorse over past events than expressing this in a protest
demonstration.
During protest.
So far, we have discussed emotions resulting from goal obstruction, related to the contentious
issue and/or the out-group. When it concerns actual participating in protest “the focus of
attention becomes a mutual focus of attention” (Collins, 2001, p. 28). By the physical co-
presence of other participants, protesters realise that they are part of greater whole. “This is a
crucial process, the shared sense of a group as focusing together, that creates what Durkheim
called “conscience collective”, fusing cognitive, [emotional] and moral unity (Collins, 2001, p.
28). According to Collins there are two kinds of emotional transformations in collective
gatherings. One involves the amplification of the initiating emotion. The second kind involves
“the transmutation of the initiating emotion into something else: the emotion which arises out of
being entrained within a collective focus of attention (p. 29)”. A successful collective gathering
of a social movement is a process of transforming emotions as anger into others as hope,
enthusiasm and solidarity.
Most people do not protest every day, on the other hand, protest activity can be quite a
powerful sometimes even transgressive experience (Corrigall-Brown, 2012; McAdam, 1988).
Protest events offer a possibility for social movements to create or strengthen emotional bonds
between their adherents and to establish or strengthen a collective identity (Eyerman, 2005).
Collective identities are forged by solidarity. Solidarity forges bonds and a feeling of
togetherness; together we are stronger than the sum of our parts. Protesters who identify with
others involved, share the feeling of ‘we–ness’, ‘your problem, is my problem, is our problem’,
thus evoking solidarity. Bonds between movement members are likely to be strengthened by the
shared experiences leading to greater commitment to and solidarity within the group. In terms of
action tendencies, solidarity instigates a need to come together and stay close to each other.
Social movements aimed at affirmative action, foster feelings of solidarity amongst group
members
The type of goal protesters strive for, influences how they feel about the event itself. If
the main motivation is identity based, protesters can be proud of ‘their’ in-group. Salvadorian
protesters were found to be proud of their in-group by asserting a ‘claim to dignity’ (Wood,
2001, p. 268). Ideologically motivated protesters may feel proud of themselves, as they stand up
for what they believe in. It could be a moment, so to speak, you tell your grandchildren you were
there. Instrumentally motivated protesters get exited if they see that the demonstration attracts a
large turnout which will help to pressure politicians and may bring the movement closer to the
realization of its goal. A protest event that unfolds as planned provides a sense of
accomplishment and instills pride or relief among group members (Benski,2010). Successful
events, however, do not self-evidently equate to goal attainment. Activist meetings are therefore
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also organized as a strategy to cope with frustrations regarding unrealized movement goals
(Benski,2010).
Expressing one’s emotion in public space is a way to visualise the size of the public
dismay to a wider audience (Eyerman, 2005, p. 48) perhaps in the hope of arousing sympathy
and respect from bystanders (Goodwin and Jasper, 2006, p. 623). The White March we referred
to earlier in this chapter had for many participants this purpose (Walgrave & Verhulst, 2004).
Expressing emotions may work as an individual catharsis. Raising one’s voice can be seen as
emotional coping in that it offers people the opportunity to regulate the emotions tied to the
social or political event (van Zomeren et al., 2004). Interestingly, this individual emotional
catharsis releases an energizing force if and only if one participates and therefore makes free-
riding less likely. Hence, one might take a free-ride on the production of a collective good, but
one cannot take a free-ride on one’s own emotions (more on selective incentives Van
Stekelenburg, 2012).
After protest
Literature addressing emotions of protest mainly focuses on the role of emotions in processes of
mobilization and participation―in other words, emotions as antecedent or byproducts of protest.
Emotions as consequences of protest, however, are an untouched area in the literature. Yet,
precisely in this aftermath of participation we may be able to find the answers to one of the most
intriguing questions in protest participation: that is the paradox of persistent participation (Louis,
2009). Follow-up studies of New Left activists of the 1960s show important biographical and
personal consequences of social movement engagement on the later lives of activists (e.g.
McAdam 1988; Corrigall-Brown, 2012). Activists tend to continue to espouse leftist attitudes,
continue to define themselves as liberal or radical in orientation, and remain active in
contemporary movements and other forms of political activity. Indeed, activism frequently
persists despite pessimism and frustration regarding the action’s ostensible goals (Louis, 2009).
Why do people continue participating in protest even if it does not effectuate their demands?
And what role do emotions play in that context?
When the excitement has settled down protesters will have some time to reflect on their
collective efforts to bring about change. Disappointment and frustration about not achieving
collective goals, or from having unrealistic goals are debited as causes of activist burn-out’s
(Goodwin & Jasper 2006). Despair about AIDS activism under depressive circumstances was
reported by Gould (2009) to result in conscious decisions to leave the movement. Or
alternatively, people switched to other causes within the larger movement that seemed more
attainable at the time. This emotion strategy avoided desperation about the movement’s failure to
reach its goals and by switching to other causes activists did not have to face the guilt of giving
up. Faced with disappointing results and without the energy to continue some activists even
reported bitter feelings. Gould notes that once despair and bitterness got hold among a number of
members it spread through the organisation and depleted its member and their energies (Gould
2009). These emotions provided information about how protesters felt about themselves and
their protest activities; their objections and anger were to no avail and they blamed themselves
rather than an out-group for their failure of not being taken seriously (Campbell, 1994, 55).
12
Failure of movement organisations to reach a collective goal however does not mean that
the movement will always wither away. When individuals are angry about their failure, this can
still promote willingness to engage in future collective action (Becker et al. 2012). Experimental
results have strengthened the notion that progress instills pride among movement members and
pride therefore indirectly affects willingness to continue and stay engaged (Becker et al. 2012).
This relationship was found to be mediated by the perceived efficacy of the social movement.
Gould also strongly emphasizes the importance of feeling proud for a movement to be able to
move forward (2009). One of many examples that she gives in her book on Act Up, the social
movement organization fighting against AIDS, for instance refers to a movement communiqué
which states “We as an entire community can be proud… of the cooperation within all segments
of the gay and lesbian community” (Gould, 2009, p.69). In fact, organizers of protest will always
attempt to claim a success, after all, to provide their activists with a strong and positive group
identification. Success breeds success, for social movements alike.
Discussion
We provided a framework of appraisals of protest emotions and elaborated this framework on
emotions before, during and after protest. In what follows we will discuss where we think the
lacunas are. We will mention a few and there might be more. Probably, the most important
challenge is to integrate emotions in contemporary theoretical paradigms of protest. Neglect of
emotions impairs our understanding of the dynamics of protest, which, first of all, leads to
scientific misinterpretation. Indeed, emotions might be more important than cost/benefit
calculations or identification with the group at stake. In that regard, moving from static to more
dynamic explanations of emotions in the context of protest participation is important. A more
dynamic integrated approach would provide the opportunity to study emotions in relation to
concepts like identification, participation motives, efficacy, and feelings of injustice as
antecedent, by-products and consequence of protest.
Secondly, the relation between individual and collective emotion processes are begging
for exploration. Take for instance, socially shared cognitions, group-based emotions, contagion,
or emotional resonance. The idea that emotional reactions are strongly affected by social factors,
and that emotions can be examined at the group level in addition to the individual level has
gained wide acceptance in the last decade. For example, various studies have shown that
individuals make group-based appraisals resulting in group-based emotions. Additionally,
previous research has shown that emotional contagion more readily occurs between individuals
with strong and intimate bonds. Emotional contagion may therefore explain the increase of
emotions within a group. But what about emotional contagion in intergroup conflicts? Are both
in- and out-group related emotions dispersed via emotional contagion? Or just in-group related
emotions? How individual and collective emotion processes relate to each other and influence
protest behaviour is far from clear.
Social movement organizations work hard to design collective action frames that touch
upon already existing concerns among potential participants, thereby strengthening their
concerns and instigating action tendencies. This process is referred to as frame alignment (Snow,
Rochford, Worden, & Benford, 1986). Whether frame alignment is done successfully can be
13
concluded from the degree in which a frame actually resonates with pre-existing belief systems
and symbolism and evokes shared emotions thereby gaining significance among the audience
(Cadena-Roa, 2002; Snow & Benford, 1988). Snow and Benford speak of frame resonance when
there is cognitive alignment between a movement’s ideology and the beliefs of an adherent
(Snow & Benford, 1988). But there is more to frame alignment, frames are “value-loaded”, and
supposedly evoke emotions (Gamson, 1992) as frames generally work only when they have an
emotional impact on people (Goodwin, Jasper, & Polletta, 2000). Research of the emotional
appeals made by SMOs is scarce. Scholars who have examined this aspect of framing introduced
the term emotional resonance to refer to the emotional alignment between a movements ideology
and the emotional lives of a potential recruit (Robnett, 2004; Schrock, 2004).
Emotions permeate protest at all stages: recruitment, sustained participation and dropping
out (Jasper, 1998). However, the literature focuses mainly on the motivating power of emotions
to enter the movement or to participate in protest. We suggest to investigate the motivational
power of emotions at different moments during an activist career (i.e. a life course perspective).
People move, for instance, from indifferent to sympathizer, from sympathizer to member, from
passive to active member, or from member to non-member. It is expected that different (group-
based) emotions spur the motivation to move from one stage to another. Moral indignation, for
instance, spurs entering a social movement, whereas solidarity or hope might be the emotional
glue to stay in a movement, and, feelings of disappointment or regret might make people decide
to quit. In taking a chronological approach the influence of emotions on motivation to move from
one state to another is investigated in a more systematic way.
In sum, we see a future for a systematic dynamic approach to emotions of protest
exploring both individual as well as collective processes in how emotions affect social
movement participation that goes beyond a static individual level of analysis. Such knowledge
about the influence of emotions on political behavior will provide a more complete, and
accordingly, more accurate picture of the reality of political protest.
14
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