On Emotions, Politics and Political Symbols

This chapter presents a theoretical discussion on the relationship between politics, emotions, and symbols. It describes the intellectual and historical background of the modern tendency in the political science literature to ignore the role of emotion in politics, which was considered an integral phenomenon in classical texts of political philosophy. Based on the claim that emotions are both collective and individual phenomena, this chapter opens the door to a new understanding of emotions in politics and makes it possible to adopt an epistemological position that enables us to deal with the crucial relationship between politics and emotions.