Emotions and Politics: Emotional Work That Allows One to Regain One's Dignity and Survive

Abstract

This chapter is a critical analysis of the empirical research described in the work of Arlie R. Hochschild “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right” (2016). The problem of dignity is one of the common psychosocial elements that is used in the book to explain the phenomenon of strong support for right-wing parties that apply specific identity policies. The research report describes the Bayou region in Louisiana, US. The state and the region are the poorest and most ecologically polluted in the United States, and the Tea Party, a right-wing party, obtained the highest support in the region in the latest election. Arlie Hochschild's research and analytical achievements will be compared in this chapter with Polish studies carried out in a small town in Mazovia region, in which the right-wing party currently ruling Poland, the Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc), won in the most recent election. Although, I am aware of significant demographic, economic, and political differences between these two countries, I will show that there are certain political and psychosocial processes common to both of them, and these will be analyzed here. I mainly focus on the issues concerning emotions and the analysis of emotional labor, as well as emotion management as described by Arlie R. Hochschild, and I also refer to the concept of interaction rituals and emotional energy.