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- Title
Struggling for Feelings: The Politics of Emotions in the Radical New Left in West Germany, c.1968–84.
- Authors
HÄBERLEN, JOACHIM C.; SMITH, JAKE P.; SPINNEY, RUSSELL A.
- Abstract
The article discusses emotional politics in the radical left in West Germany from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The first part analyses radical left-wing critiques of capitalism during the 1970s that focused on the emotions that capitalism allegedly produced. The article argues that activists described an ‘emotional regime’ of capitalism, but in doing so effectively instituted an emotional regime within their own milieu which made the expression of certain negative feelings, such as fear, imperative. The article then discusses emotional practices radical left-wingers developed in order to overcome the alleged ‘emotional void’ of capitalism. The article's second part then focuses on the urban revolts of 1980–81 (mostly in Berlin). This revolt marked a decisive shift, as the centrality of fear, frustration and boredom was increasingly overshadowed by feelings of joy and ecstatic possibility. The article concludes by proposing that the alternative left contributed to the formulation of new emotional styles and norms in West German society at large.
- Subjects
GERMANY (West); EMOTIONS &; politics; RADICALISM; NEW left (Politics); LEFT-wing extremism; RIGHT &; left (Political science) -- History; SOCIAL movements; CAPITALISM; WEST German politics &; government; TWENTIETH century; HISTORY
- Publication
Contemporary European History, 2014, Vol 23, Issue 4, p615
- ISSN
0960-7773
- Publication type
Essay
- DOI
10.1017/S0960777314000344