Emotional Politicisation of the European Union: Towards a New Framework of Analysis

Nicolai Gellwitzki and Anne-Marie Houde study the role of emotions in international relations, an often-neglected topic of research in political science literature. The authors are interested in how emotions contribute to the politicisation of European issues, particularly in time of crises.

In this working paper, Nicolai and Anne-Marie carry a case study on the German government’s response to the migrant crisis of 2015 in order to showcase the importance of emotions in politics. Through a discourse analysis, they find that German actors’ statements use more emotional rhetoric and appeal to a common European identity as this specific issue becomes politicised. Nicolai and Anne-Marie thus conclude that emotions play a fundamental part in our understanding of European affairs, especially in time of crisis where they become more salient and polarised.

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