Keywords
theatricality of politics
social engineering of emotions
political leadership
right-wing populism
Donald Trump
Abstract
Contemporary leadership practices in politics are full of emotions, which, on the one hand, may be a manifestation of various types of expressions or moods in the individual and collective dimension, and on the other hand, are an important source of political mobilization or an instrument enhancing effectiveness in the election competition. In this article inducing and politicizing savagery among followers – defined as an emotional social engineering strategy for articulating given goals and interests – will be treated as a populist manifestation and an expression of planned radicalization of political competition. The aim of the article is a meta theoretical reflection on the instrumentalisation of wildness in the leadership of the right-wing populist – Donald Trump. A practical rationale for discussing collective savagery in politics will be the attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. This event will serve as an example to explain the political exteriorization of the confrontational Trump followers, thanks to which the right-wing populist leader not only articulated his own goals, shaped public self-presentation or theatrical political presence, but also redefined and challenged the existing rules and principles of democratic political culture.
References
Alexander, J. C. (2011). Performance and Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Barbalet, J. M. (1998). Emotion, Social Theory, and Social Structure: A Macrosociological Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511488740 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511488740
Barbalet, J., M., & Demertzis, N. (2013). Collective Fear and Societal Change. In. N. Demertzis (Ed.), Emotions in Politics. The Affect Dimension in Political Tension (pp. 167-185). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137025661_9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137025661_9
Berezin, M. (2001). Emotions and Political Identity: Mobilizing Affection for the Polity. In. J. Goodwin, J. M. Jasper, F. Polletta (Eds.), Passionate politics: emotions and social movements (pp. 83-98). Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226304007.003.0006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226304007.003.0006
Brown, R., & Pehrson, S. (2020). Group Processes. Dynamics within and Between Groups. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118719244 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118719244
Cackowski, Z. (1979). Człowiek jako podmiot działania praktycznego i poznawczego [Man as the subject of practical and cognitive activity]. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza.
Canetti, E. (1978). Crowds and Power. New York: Continuum.
Debord, G. (1992). Society of The Spectacle. London: Rebel Press.
Fox, R. (2011). The tribal imagination: civilization and the savage mind. Cambridge, Mass. & London: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674060944 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674060944
Degérando, J.-M. (1969). The Observation of Savage People. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520329072 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520329072
Delsol, Ch. (2003). Esej o człowieku późnej nowoczesności [An essay on a man of late modernity]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak.
Diop, C. A. (1991). Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology. New York: Lawrence Hill Books.
Donaldson, S., & Kymlicka, W. (2011). Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eatwell, R., & Goodwin, M. (2018). National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy. London: Penguin Books.
Fernandez-Armesto, F. (2002). Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature. New York: A Touchstone Book.
Garside, N. (2013). Democratic Ideals and the Politicization of Nature: The Roving Life of a Feral Citizen. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137008664 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137008664
Griffin, R. (2017). Interregnum or endgame? The radical right in the "post-fascist" era. In C. Mudde (Ed.), The Populist Radical Right (pp. 15-27). A reader. London & New York: Routledge.
Hall, S. (1992). The Question of Cultural Identity. In. S. Hall, D. Held, T. McGrew (Eds.), Modernity and Its Futures (pp. 273-325). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hall, S. (1997). The Work of Representation. In. S. Hall (Ed.), Representation (15-75). London: Sage.
Hall, S. (2019). Culture, the Media, and the "Ideological Effect". In. D. Morley (Ed.), Essential Essays / Stuart Hall. Foundations of Cultural Studies. Vol. 1 (pp. 298-335). Durham and London: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478002413-015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478002413
Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D., & Platow M. J. (2011). The New Psychology of Leadership. Identity, Influence, and Power. Hove & New York: Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203833896 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203833896
Hochschild, A., R. (1983). The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Hogg, M. A. (2001). Self-categorization and subjective uncertainty resolution: Cognitive and motivational facets of social identity and group membership. In. J. P. Forgas, K. D. Williams, L. Wheeler (Eds.), The Social Mind: Cognitive and Motivational Aspects of Interpersonal Behavior (pp. 323-349). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hogg, M. A. (2006). Social Identity Theory of Leadership. In. J. B. Ciulla, C. L. Hoyt, G. R. Goethals, D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Leadership at The Crossroads. Vol. 1. Leadership and Psychology (pp. 62-77). Westport, Connecticut, London: Praeger Perspectives.
Kassab, H. S. (2016). The Power of Emotion in Politics, Philosophy, and Ideology. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 25-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-59352-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-59352-8
Keltner, D., & Gross, J. J. (1999). Functional Accounts of Emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 13(5), 467-480. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999399379140 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/026999399379140
Keltner, D., Oatley, K., & Jenkins, J. M. (2014). Understanding Emotions. Third Edition. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.
Clark, M. S., & Brissette, I. (2000). Relationship beliefs and emotion: Reciprocal effects. In. N. H. Frijda, A. S. R. Manstead, S. Bem (Eds.), Emotions and Beliefs. Feeling Infuence Thoughts (pp. 212-240). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511659904.009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511659904.009
Czapów, C., & Podgórecki, A. (1972). Socjotechnika - podstawowe pojęcia i problemy [Social engineering-basic concepts and problems]. In A. Podgórecki (Ed.), Socjotechnika. Style działania [Social engineering. Styles of action] (pp. 9-35). Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza.
Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional Contagion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174138 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174138
Karwat, M. (2003). Polityka jako festiwal hipokryzji [Politcs as a festival of hypocrisy]. In. B. Kaczmarek (Ed.), Metafory polityki [Metaphors of politcs]. tom 2 (pp. 291-316). Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa.
Karwat, M. (2017). Autorytaryzm a populizm. Zarys współzależności [Authoritarianism and Populism. Morphology of Interdependence]. In. F. Pierzchalski, B. Rydliński (Eds.), Autorytarny populizm w XXI wieku. Krytyczna rekonstrukcja [Authoritarian Populism in The 21st Century. Critical Reconstruction] (pp. 15-32). Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa.
Kertzer, D. I. (1988). Ritual, Politics, and Power. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Kwiatkowski, S. (1974). Słowo i emocje w propagandzie [Word and emotions in propaganda]. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, pp. 153-155.
Pierzchalski, F. (2013). Performans somatyczny - ciało jako element aktywności politycznej [Somatic performance - body as element of political activity]. In M. Babecki, F. Pierzchalski (Eds.), Transformacje rzeczywistości. Przejawy aktywizmu w kulturze, mediach i polityce [Reality transformations. Manifestations of activism in culture, media and politics] (pp. 155-185). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Libron.
Mayer, N. (2021). Political sciences approaches to the far right. In S. D. Ashe, J. Busher, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315304670-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315304670-1
G. Macklin, A. Winterpp (Eds.), Researching the far right. Theory, Method and Practice (pp. 17-31). London & New York: Routledge.
Morgan, L. H. (2003). Ancient Society. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.
Mudde, C. (2007). Populist radical right parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511492037 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511492037
Mudde, C., & Kaltwasser, C. R. (Eds.). (2012). Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or corrective for democracy? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139152365 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139152365
Nalaskowski, A. (2006). Dzikość i zdziczenie jako kontekst edukacji [Wildness and savagery as the context of education]. Kraków: Oficyna Wydawnicza "Impuls".
Niedenthal, P. M., & Ric, F. (2017). Psychology of Emotion. New York and London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315276229 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315276229
Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural Backlash. Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108595841 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108595841
Plamper, J. (2012). The History of Emotions. An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Podgórecki, A. (1968). Pięć funkcji socjologii [Five functions of sociology]. In A. Podgórecki (Ed.), Socjotechnika. Praktyczne zastosowania socjologii [Social engineering. Practical applications of social engineering] (pp. 9-34). Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza.
Rosanvallon, P. (2008). Counter-Democracy. Politics in an Age of Distrust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755835 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755835
Sarmiento, D. F. (2003). Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Searle, J. R. (1998). Mind, Language and Society. Philosophy in The Real World. New York: Basic Book.
Solomon, R. C. (2003). What Is An Emotion? Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Struthers Montford, K., & Taylor, Ch. (2016). Feral Theory: Eiditor's Introduction. Feral Feminisms, 6(Fall), 5-17.
Taylor, Ch. (2004). Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham and London: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822385806 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822385806
Todorov, T. (2010). The Fear of Barbarians: Beyond the Clash of Civilizations. Cambridge: Polity Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226805788.001.0001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226805788.001.0001
Traverso, E. (2019). The New Faces of Fascism. Populism and the Far Right. London: Verso.
Turner, J. C. (1985). Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behaviour. In E. J. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes: Theory and research. vol. 2 (pp. 77-122). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Oelschlaeger, M. (1991). Idea of Wilderness: From Prehistory to the Age of Ecology. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Snow, D., A., & Bernatzky, C. (2019). The coterminous rise of right-wing populism and superfluous populations. In G. Fitzi, J. Mackert, B. S. Turner (Eds), Populism and the Crisis of Democracy. Volume 1: Concepts and Theory (pp. 130-146). London & New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315108070-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315108070-9
Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2019). Shifting Emotional Regimes: Donald Trump's Angry Populism. In Emotions, Media and Politics (pp. 110-128). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Williams, R. (1977). Marxism and Literature. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. Berezin, 2001, pp. 93-97
van Troost, D., van Stekelenburg, J., & Klandermans, B. (2013). Emotions of Protest. In N. Demertzis (Ed.), Emotions in Politics. The Affect Dimension in Political Tension (pp. 186-203). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137025661_10 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137025661_10
Yoon, H. (2017). Feral Biopolitics. Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, 22(2), 135-150. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2017.1322829 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2017.1322829
Ziółkowski, J. (2013). Wrogość w stosunkach politycznych. Modelowa analiza funkcjonalna [Hostility in political relations. Model functional analysis]. Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa.
Ziółkowski, J. (2019). Syndrom oblężonej twierdzy [The syndrome of the besieged fortress]. Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa.
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Filip Pierzchalski
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Manuscript authors are responsible for obtaining copyright permissions for any copyrighted materials included within manuscripts. The authors must provide permission letters, when appropriate, to the Society Register Editors.
In addition, all published papers in Society Register are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern CC BY-NC 4.0 as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.