ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of how emotions have been conceptualized with regards to collective action and the creation of political identities. Before delving into the specifics of how social movement theory has dealt with emotions, it is important to consider the conceptual divide between emotion and reason that underpins much of contemporary scholarship on emotions. The focus on emotion was almost obliterated, leaving the second half of the mind/body dualism behind. Emotions were seen as important for sustaining activism or increasing mobilization. Emotions are thus seen as too instrumental and too cognitive to fully account for the range of responses an individual could have towards its environment. Starting in the 1970s, an important shift took place, where social movements went from being seen as largely irrational, or at least partly emotional, to entirely rational. Works on specifically Spanish movements have also included focus on emotions.
