Intellectual Journeys towards Emotions: A Conversation among Feminist Scholars

Abstract

This Viewpoint contribution considers the recent turn to emotion and affect in the humanities and the social sciences. We present here a conversation between four scholars of gender, Ute Frevert, Chitra Joshi, Lynn M. Thomas and Valerie Walkerdine, reflecting on their personal intellectual trajectories. In their discussion, they examine how, when and why they began to explore the analytical potential of feelings and emotions in their scholarly work. The turn to emotions was motivated by a search for more nuanced perspectives on social hierarchies, and subjectivity and agency. Through their respective expertise on western Europe, India, East and Southern Africa and Britain, the four scholars address the global connections between studies of gender and the increasing import of emotions as an analytical lens.