British Sociological Association Emotions Study Group Webinar

Description

Barbara H. Rosenwein (Loyola University Chicago) presented work from her most recent book, Anger: The Conflicted History of an Emotion (Yale University Press, 2020). Prof Rosenwein traced the moral construction of anger as both vice and virtue across different ‘emotion communities’ over time. Her talk was followed by a response from Dr Jilly Kay (Leicester), author of Gender, Media and Voice: Communicative Injustice and Public Speech (2020, Palgrave). Dr Kay’s response focused on the significance of anger in the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements. The recent democratisation of the emotion, as it has become detached from rigid status hierarchies while at the same time retaining a morally righteous character, generated a fascinating debate about the reframing of contemporary political movements through a simplified language of anger. Questions concerning the challenges this presents for the possibility of political deliberation or compromise, in contrast for instance with the language of advocacy, were considered.

Period	10 Dec 2020
Event type	Seminar
Degree of Recognition	International