The politics of affective citizenship: from Blair to Obama

Abstract

Politicians have long mobilised emotion in order to gain voters' support. However, this article argues that the politics of affect is also implicated in how citizens' identities, rights and entitlements are constructed. Examples are drawn from the positions of UK, US, Canadian and Australian politicians, including Tony Blair, David Cameron, Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama. Emotions analysed include love, fear, anxiety, empathy and hope. The article argues for the importance of a concept of ‘affective citizenship’ which explores (a) which intimate emotional relationships between citizens are endorsed and recognised by governments in personal life and (b) how citizens are also encouraged to feel about others and themselves in broader, more public domains. It focuses on issues of sexuality, gender, race and religion, and argues that the politics of affect has major implications for determining who has full citizenship rights. The Global Financial Crisis has also seen the development of an ‘emotional regime’ in which issues of economic security are increasingly influencing constructions of citizenship.

Keywords:

• citizenship
• politics
• affect
• sexuality/sexual orientation
• race
• identity

Acknowledgement

My thanks to the journal's anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper. My thanks too for feedback received when an earlier version of this paper was presented at the Colloquium, Moving citizens: exploring worlds of emotional politics, Birkbeck College, 24 October 2008.

Notes

1. See e.g. Clarke et al. (2006), Redlawsk (2006), Neuman et al. (2007) and Westen (2007).

2. See e.g. Stone (1997), Shumway (2003, pp. 1–28); and Coontz (2005, pp. 5–12).

3. Marcus (2002) makes a convincing case that emotion and reason are not opposed.

4. For a critique of the traditional welfare state's deficiencies in meeting citizens' broader emotional needs, see Hoggett (2000, p. 165).

5. See the front cover of The Advocate, issue 1021, 16 December 2008. Available from: http://www.advocate.com/TOC.aspx?id=98760 [Accessed 8 October 2010].

6. Bill Clinton apologised for the annexation of Hawaii in 1993.