Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

Refine search results

Journals help

  1. 1 Human Affairs

Authors help

  1. 1 Gil M.

Years help

  1. 1 2016

Results found: 1

first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last

Search results

help Sort By:

help Limit search:
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
1

Emotions and Political Rhetoric: Perception of Danger, Group Conflict and the Biopolitics of Fear

100%
Gil M.
Human Affairs
|
2015
|
vol. 26
|
issue 2
212-226
EN
In the present article I shall argue that human emotion is multifaceted and has a cognitive dimension in virtue of its intricate connections with beliefs, memories, imagination, and other products of human rationality. Human emotion also has a social and political dimension. When we think about fear we cannot characterize it as a mere stimulus-response phenomenon: it is, due to its cognitive facet, more complex and related to our ideas about survival and well-being. This leaves fear exposed to political rhetoric, and thus to political manipulation. Fear can be aroused, guided and nourished amongst the population, giving rise to a biopolitics of fear. In this article, I will consider the heuristics and biases that lead people to evaluate risks mistakenly, and governments to consequently act erroneously. I will also consider how these psychological mechanisms are exploited by social entrepreneurs in order to achieve their own goals, such as reinforce in-group bonds, generate a sense of crisis or keep hold of power. I shall argue that we must be alert to certain kinds of political discourse that pose a threat to democratic society.
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.