Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:44:17.248Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Institutionalizing passion in world politics: fear and empathy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2014

Neta C. Crawford
Neta C. Crawford*
Affiliation:
Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
*
E-mail: crawfor@bu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Emotions are a ubiquitous intersubjective element of world politics. Yet, passions are often treated as fleeting, private, reactive, and not amenable to systematic analysis. Institutionalization links the private and individual to the collective and political. Passions may become enduring through institutionalization, and thus, as much as characterizing private reactions to external phenomena, emotions structure the social world. To illustrate this argument, I describe how fear and empathy may be institutionalized, discuss the relationship between these emotions, and suggest how empathy may be both a mirror and potential antidote to individual and institutionalized fear.

Type
Forum: Emotions and World Politics
Information
International Theory , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , November 2014 , pp. 535 - 557
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, Emmanuel, and Barnett, Michael. 1998. Security Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Aristotle. 1980. The Nicomachean Ethics, translated and with an introduction by David Ross. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barraza, Jorge A., and Zak, Paul J.. 2009. “Empathy Toward Strangers Triggers Oxytocin Release and Subsequent Generosity.” Annual Review of the New York Academy of Sciences 1167:182–189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartz, Jennifer A., Zaki, Jamil, Bolger, Niall, Hollander, Eric, Ludwig, Natasha N., Kolevzon, Alexander, and Ochsner, Kevin N.. 2010. “Oxytocin Selectively Improves Empathic Accuracy.” Psychological Science 21(10):1426–1428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cikara, Mina, and Fiske, Susan T.. 2011. “Bounded Empathy: Neural Responses to Outgroup Targets' (Mis)fortunes.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23(12):3791–3803.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crawford, Neta C. 2000. “The Passion of World Politics: Propositions on Emotion and Emotional Relationships.” International Security 24(4):116–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, Neta C. 2002. Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization, and Humanitarian Intervention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, Neta C. 2009a. “Homo Politicus and Argument (Nearly) All the Way Down: Persuasion in Politics.” Perspectives on Politics 7(1):103–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, Neta C. 2009b. “No Borders, No Bystanders: Developing Individual and Institutional Capacities for Global Moral Responsibility.” In Global Basic Rights, edited by Charles R. Beitz, and Robert E. Goodin, 131–155. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Crawford, Neta C. 2011. “Human Nature and World Politics: Rethinking 'Man’.” In Realism in World Politics, edited by Ken Booth, 158–176. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Crawford, Neta C., and Klotz, Audie. eds. 1999. How Sanctions Work : Lessons from South Africa. London/New YorkMacmillan/St. Martin's Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cudworth, Erika, and Hobden, Stephen. 2010. “Anarchy and Anarchism: Towards A Theory of Complex International Systems.” Millenium: Journal of International Studies 39(2):399–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, Richard J., and McEwen, Bruce S.. 2012. “Social Influences on Neuroplasticity: Stress and Interventions to Promote Well-Being.” Nature Neuroscience 15(5):689–695.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Decity, Jean, and Lamm, Claus. 2009. “Empathy versus Personal Distress: Recent Evidence from Social Neuroscience.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 199–214. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deutsch, Karl, Burrel, Sidney, Kann, Robert A., Lee, Maurice Jr., Lichterman, Martin, Lindgren, Raymond, Lowenthal, Francis, and Richard W., Van Wagenen 1957. Political Community and the North Atlantic Area. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
de Waal, Frans B.M. 2008. “Putting the Altrusim Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy.” Annual Review of Psychology 59:279–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Waal, Frans B.M 2009. The Age of Empathy. New York: Harmony Books.Google Scholar
Eden, Lynn. 2004. Whole World on Fire: Organizations, Knowledge, and Nuclear Weapons Devastation. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, Nancy, and Eggum, Natalie D.. 2009. “Empathic Responding: Sympathy and Personal Distress.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 71–83. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elfenbein, Hillary Anger, and Ambady, Nanlini. 2002. “On the Universal and Cultural Specificity of Emotion Recognition: A Meta-Analysis.” Psychological Bulletin 128:203–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feshbach, Norma Deitch, and Feshbach, Seymour. 2009. “Empathy and Education.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 87–90. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Forgas, Joseph P. 2000. “Introduction.” In Thinking and Feeling: The Role of Affect in Social Cognition, edited by Joseph P. Forgas, 1–28. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Goubert, Liesbet, Craig, Kenneth D., and Buysee, Ann. 2009. “Perceiving Others in Pain: Experimental and Clinical Evidence on the Role of Empathy.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 153–166. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1993. “Morality, Society, and Ethics: An Interview with Torben Hviid Nielsen.” In Justification and Application: Remarks on Discourse Ethics, edited by Habermas Jürgen, 147–176. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Harris, Lasana T., and Fiske, Susan T.. 2006. “Dehumanizing the Lowest of the Low: Neural Responses to Extreme Out-Groups.” Psychological Science 17(10):847–853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, Lasana T., and Fiske, Susan T.. 2011. “Dehumanized Perception: A Psychological Means to Facilitate Atrocities, Torture, and Genocide.” Journal of Psychology 219(3):175–181.Google ScholarPubMed
Harrison, Neil E. ed. 2006. Complexity in World Politics: Concepts and Methods of a New Paradigm. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hein, Grit, Silani, Giorgia, Kerstin, Preuschoff, Batson, C. Daniel, and Singer, Tania. 2010. “Neural Responses to Ingroup and Outgroup Members' Suffering Predict Individual Differences in Costly Helping.” Neuron 68:149–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoffman, Martin L. 2000. Empathy and Moral Development: Implications for Caring and Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, Feldman, Stanley, and Cassese, Erin. 2007. “On the Distinct Political Effects of Anxiety and Anger.” In The Affect Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior, edited by Russell W. Neuman, George E. Marcus, Ann N. Crigler, and Michael MacKuen, 202–230. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ickes, William. 1993. “Empathic Accuracy.” Journal of Personality 61:587–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ickes, William 2009. “Empathic Accuracy: Its Links to Clinical, Cognitive, Developmental, Social and Physiological Psychology.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 57–70. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, P.L., and Decity, J.. 2004. “Motor Cognition: A New Paradigm to Study Self-Other Interactions.” Current Opinion in Neurobiology 14:259–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jeffery, Renee. 2011. “Reason, Emotion, and the Problem of World Poverty: Moral Sentiment Theory and International Ethics.” International Theory 3(1):143–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jervis, Robert. 1985. “Perceiving and Coping With Threat.” In Psychology and Deterrence, edited by Robert Jervis, Richard Ned Lebow, and Janice Gross Stein, 13–33. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jervis, Robert 1997. System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Johnston, David, and Risen, James. 2003. “New Signs of Terror Not Evident: Officials Now Look At Different Threats.” The New York Times 6:B1.Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret E., and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Kelman, Herbert C. 1996. “Negotiation as Interactive Problem Solving.” International Negotiation 1:99–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeDoux, Joseph. 2002. “Emotion: Clues from the Brain.” In Foundations in Social Neuroscience, edited by John T. Cacioppo et al., 389–410. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutz, Catherine A. 1998. Unnatural Emotions: Everyday Sentiments on a Micronesian Atoll and their Challenge to Western Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Marlier, Grant, and Crawford, Neta C.. 2013. “Incomplete and Imperfect Institutionalization of Empathy and Altruism in the 'Responsibility to Protect' Doctrine.” Global Responsibility to Protect 5:397–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathur, Vani A., Harada, Tokiko, Lipke, Trixie, and Chiao, Joan. 2010. “Neural Basis of Extraordinary Empathy and Altruistic Motivation.” Neuroimage 51:1468–1475.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDermott, Rose. 2014. “The Body Doesn’t Lie: A Somatic Approach to the Study of Emotions in World Politics.” International Theory 6(3):557–562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McEwen, Bruce S. 2002. “Protective and Damaging Effects of Stress Mediators.” In Foundations in Social Neuroscience, edited by John T. Cacioppo et al., 1127–1140. Cambridge: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Alice. 1983. For Their Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Childrearing and the Roots of Violence. New York: Farrar Strauss Giroux.Google Scholar
Monroe, Kirstin Renwick. 2004. The Heart of Compassion: Portraits of Moral Choice During the Holocaust. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Monroe, Kirstin Renwick 2012. Ethics in an Age of Terror and Genocide. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Niehoff, Debra. 1999. The Biology of Violence: How Understanding the Brain, Behavior, and Environment Can Break a Vicious Cycle of Aggression. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Martha. 2013. Political Emotions. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfaff, Donald W. 2007. The Neuroscience of Fair Play: Why We (Usually) Follow the Golden Rule. New York: Dana Press.Google Scholar
Pfeifer, Jennifer H., and Dapreto, Mirella. 2009. “‘Mirror, Mirror, in My Mind’: Empathy, Interpersonal Competence, and the Mirror Neuron System.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 183–197. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phelps, Elizabeth A. 2006. “Emotion and Cognition: Insights from Studies of the Human Amygdala.” Annual Review of Psychology 57:27–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rorty, Richard. 1993. “Human Rights, Rationality, and Sentimentality.” In On Human Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1993, edited by Stephen Shute and Susan Hurley, 111–134. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G. 2009. “Empathic Processing: Its Cognitive and Affective Dimensions and Neuroanatomical Basis.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 215–232. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shenon, Philip, and Schmitt, Eric. 2002. “At U.S. Nerve Center, Daily Talks on the Worst Fears.” The New York Times, December 27: A12.Google Scholar
Smith, Adam. 2011 [1759]. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: Guttenberg.Google Scholar
Sparks, Allister. 1994. Tomorrow is Another Country: The Inside Story of South Africa's Negotiated Revolution. Sandton, SA: Struik Books.Google Scholar
Staub, Ervin. 2011. Overcoming Evil: Genocide, Violent Conflict, and Terrorism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sylvester, Christine. 2002. Feminist International Relations: An Unfinished Journey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sylvester, Christine 2011. “The Forum: Emotion and the Feminist IR Researcher.” International Studies Review 13:687–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Shelly E., Klein, Laura Cousino, Lewis, Brian P., Gruenewald, Tara L., Gurung, Regan A. R., and Updegraff, John A. 2002. “Biobehavioral Responses to Stress in Females: Tend and Befriend, not Fight or Flight.” In Foundations in Social Neuroscience, edited by John T. Cacioppo, Gary G. Bernston, Shelley E. Taylor, and Daniel L. Schacter, 661–693. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tutu, Desmond. 1999. No Future without Forgiveness. New York: Doubleday.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, Jeanne C., and Greenberg, Leslie S.. 2009. “Empathic Resonance: A Neuroscience Perspective.” In The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, edited by Jean Decity and William Ickes, 125–137. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Ralph K. 1984. Fearful Warriors: A Psychological Profile of US-Soviet Relations. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Zak, Paul J. 2011. “The Physiology of Moral Sentiments.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 77:53–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaki, Jamil, and Ochsner, Kevin N.. 2012. “The Neuroscience of Empathy: Progress, Pitfalls and Promise.” Nature Neuroscience 15(5):675–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed