Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment
In this article, we undertake an empirical examination of the psychology of what is often called “the angry citizen,” highlighting ressentiment as an important emotional mechanism of grievance politics. Contrary to the short‐lived, action‐prone emotion of anger proper, ressentiment transmutes the in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cogitatio
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Politics and Governance |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/5789 |
| _version_ | 1828084268422660096 |
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| author | Tereza Capelos Mikko Salmela Gabija Krisciunaite |
| author_facet | Tereza Capelos Mikko Salmela Gabija Krisciunaite |
| author_sort | Tereza Capelos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article, we undertake an empirical examination of the psychology of what is often called “the angry citizen,” highlighting ressentiment as an important emotional mechanism of grievance politics. Contrary to the short‐lived, action‐prone emotion of anger proper, ressentiment transmutes the inputs of grievance politics like deprivation of opportunity, injustice, shame, humiliation, envy, and inefficacious anger, into the anti‐social outputs of morally righteous indignation, destructive anger, hatred, and rage. Our empirical probe uses qualitative and quantitative analysis of 164 excerpts from interviews with US “angry citizens” from the following works: Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016) by Arlie Russell Hochschild, Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era (2017) by Michael Kimmel, and Stiffed: The Roots of Modern Male Rage (2019) by Susan Faludi. In these seemingly “angry” excerpts, we find markers matching the psychological footprint of ressentiment instead of anger proper: victimhood, envy, powerlessness; the defenses of splitting, projection, and denial; and preference for inaction, anti‐preferences, and low efficacy. We conclude on the significance of the distinction between anger proper and ressentiment for understanding the psychology of grievance politics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T04:22:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-136b58daa71b449081c633ba69922cef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T04:22:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Politics and Governance |
| spelling | doaj.art-136b58daa71b449081c633ba69922cef2022-12-30T11:33:51ZengCogitatioPolitics and Governance2183-24632022-12-0110438439510.17645/pag.v10i4.57892847Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of RessentimentTereza Capelos0Mikko Salmela1Gabija Krisciunaite2Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UKCenter for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark / Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UKIn this article, we undertake an empirical examination of the psychology of what is often called “the angry citizen,” highlighting ressentiment as an important emotional mechanism of grievance politics. Contrary to the short‐lived, action‐prone emotion of anger proper, ressentiment transmutes the inputs of grievance politics like deprivation of opportunity, injustice, shame, humiliation, envy, and inefficacious anger, into the anti‐social outputs of morally righteous indignation, destructive anger, hatred, and rage. Our empirical probe uses qualitative and quantitative analysis of 164 excerpts from interviews with US “angry citizens” from the following works: Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016) by Arlie Russell Hochschild, Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era (2017) by Michael Kimmel, and Stiffed: The Roots of Modern Male Rage (2019) by Susan Faludi. In these seemingly “angry” excerpts, we find markers matching the psychological footprint of ressentiment instead of anger proper: victimhood, envy, powerlessness; the defenses of splitting, projection, and denial; and preference for inaction, anti‐preferences, and low efficacy. We conclude on the significance of the distinction between anger proper and ressentiment for understanding the psychology of grievance politics.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/5789angerangry citizenemotional mechanismgrievancephilosophypolitical psychologyressentimentresentmentunited states |
| spellingShingle | Tereza Capelos Mikko Salmela Gabija Krisciunaite Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment Politics and Governance anger angry citizen emotional mechanism grievance philosophy political psychology ressentiment resentment united states |
| title | Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment |
| title_full | Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment |
| title_fullStr | Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment |
| title_short | Grievance Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Anger Through the Emotional Mechanism of Ressentiment |
| title_sort | grievance politics an empirical analysis of anger through the emotional mechanism of ressentiment |
| topic | anger angry citizen emotional mechanism grievance philosophy political psychology ressentiment resentment united states |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/5789 |
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