Digital Commons Network^™

How Emotions Shape Feminist Coalitions, Nancy Whittier

Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper develops a framework for conceptualizing the emotional dimensions of coalitions, with particular focus on how power operates through emotion in different varieties of feminist coalitions. The paper proposes three interrelated areas in which emotion shapes feminist coalitions. 1) Feelings toward coalition partners: Feelings of mistrust, anger, fear or their reverse grow from histories of interaction and unequal power. These make up the emotional landscape of intersectional coalitions, which operate through a tension between negative emotions and attempts at empathy or mutual acceptance. 2) Shared feelings: Feminist coalitions build on shared fear of threat or anger at a common …