Researching emotions in International Relations: methodological perspectives on the emotional turn

Abstract

Capturing the momentum of the affective turn in International Relations (IR), the contributors to this rich and engaging volume—edited by Maéva Clément and Eric Sangar—give deserving attention to the integral role emotions play within the discipline. Challenging the primacy of rationalist approaches to IR, this book addresses a current gap in the literature by focusing on a range of methodologies and debates around the study of emotions. In so doing, it is both practical and informative, prompting new questions and ideas while reflecting on the challenges of researching affect. The word ‘emotions’ is used from the outset as an umbrella term to capture ideas of affect, feeling and sentiment. The authors of each chapter then specify their definitions and frame their understanding of how this relates to the chosen methodology. The methods used include discourse analysis, interviews, qualitative comparative content analysis, visual analysis, historical sociological analysis and computer-assisted content analysis, among others. There is a tendency towards qualitative and social constructivist approaches over hard quantitative methods, given their amenability to the interpretation of emotional dynamics.