Politics and Emotions
Politics and Emotions
British political life is in the throes of a paradox. The public seem to be both anxious and bored: fearful about life as the ‘nice decade’ draws to an end, but bored with a government seemingly unable to address their fears. These are emotional times.
But are we at ease talking about emotions? They are seen as manipulative, worse, selfish and certainly not to be trusted as a guide to decision-making.
We need to reappraise emotion and its role in politics. In an increasingly complex and interdependent world we need the development of a genuine emotional resilience.
In September, Demos will be publishing a call to arms for just such a resilience. At this years' Hay-on-Wye literary festival we sparked a debate, one that goes far beyond the Westminster bubble, one that we hope you will contribute to...
• How do you feel about politics in this country?
• Do you sometimes hold contradictory political views?
• What was the last emotion a politician triggered in you?
• When did you last feel passionate about an issue?
• What is your first political memory?
Send your story to catherine.fieschi@demos.co.uk, and we’ll feed it into our work or go to the blog to contribute at http://www.demos.co.uk/blog/politicsandemotions
