For, Against, Together: Rethinking Antagonistic Political Emotions (Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction)

What are antagonistic political emotions, and what do they do? This book explores how such emotions unfold within and shape the political sphere. By driving and reinforcing identities, political emotions deepen divisions and empower feelings of hatred but also establish allegiance and belonging. Contributions from leading philosophers, political theorists, and social psychologists uncover the broad range of emotions animating contemporary political life and reveal how they impact political identities while also generating both solidarity and division. The chapters trace how antagonistic emotions manifest across diverse contexts, from climate activism and online extremism to electoral politics and everyday civic engagement. The cutting-edge perspectives on the emotional foundations of political life make this volume essential reading for those seeking to understand what propels political behaviour in our polarised age. Challenging traditional binaries of positive versus negative emotions, the book shows how antagonistic feelings place us simultaneously for, against, and together.

Lucy Osler is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Exeter, UK, specialising in the philosophy of emotions and technology in dialogue with the social sciences. She is the vice president of the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotions and associate editor for Passion and Philosophy of AI.

Thomas Szanto is a professor of political philosophy at the University of Flensburg, Germany, working at the intersection of social and political philosophy, phenomenology and the affective sciences. He serves on the editorial board of Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences and is the incoming Co-Editor-in-Chief of Emotion Review.