ABSTRACT
Emotion is pervasive in social life. It provides the ¿ery passion that motivates individuals to get involved in movements and lays the foundation for the commitment necessary to sustain activism over the long haul (Goodwin et al. 2001, Flam and King 2005). It is not surprising, then, that leaders try to cultivate emotions that will grow movement support and advance their political goals (Taylor 1996, Jasper 1998). Symbols and rhetoric that elicit pride, patriotism, fear, determination, hope, or anger can effectively mobilize individuals to action (Barker 2001, Goodwin and Pfaff 2001, Woehrle et al. 2008, Gould 2009, Jasper 2011). However, leaders alone do not control which emotions become relevant to a social movement. Emotion emerges through interaction and, at times, the affect expressed within a movement may have little resonance beyond an activist setting (Taylor 1996, Gould 2004). While activists can strategically choose the emotions they display to a broader public (Whittier 2001), leaders have incentives to try to maintain some control over emotional expression. A dramatic shift in emotion can alter movement goals and actions (Jasper 1998), something that leaders may want to avoid.
