Karin Wahl-JorgensenCardiff University, Wales, UK

ECREA 2016 conference, Prague

The Emotional Politics of the EU Referendum: Bregrexit and Beyond

The emotional politics of the EU referendumHistory of Euro-scepticism in

the UKRise of populist politics across

Europe and the USAppeals to disenchanted

citizensEU Referendum reporting:

Negative emotional politics“Project Fear,” “Bregrexit”

The emotional politics of the EU referendumThe role of emotion in political lifeLiberal democratic theory: Celebrates rational,

dispassionate, impartial, disembodied and informed citizen“Emotional deficit in political communication” (Richards,

2004)Emotional citizens make for bad subjects

BUT political engagement driven by emotional motivationsThe “political brain is an emotional brain. It is not a

dispassionate calculating machine, objectively searching for the right facts, figures, and policies to make a reasoned decision“ (Westen, 2006)

Rise of the “emotional public sphere” (Lunt & Pantti, 2007)

2016 EU Referendum: Emotional politics

“Appeal to the gut, and the heart” (Gavin Hewitt)

“Project Fear”Leave: Fear over immigration and the

encroachment of the EU on national sovereignty

Remain: Accused of whipping up anxiety over the potential economic consequences of Brexit.

2016 EU Referendum: Emotional politics“Lacking grounds for optimism, and feeling remote from

the levers of power, the disappointed nurse their grievances – until along come politicians who tell them that they are right to be angry, that their resentments are justified, and that they should be mad not just at the winners but at immigrants, too. Trump and Farage are the latest and most successful of these political opportunists. Sadly, they are unlikely to be the last” (John Cassidy, New Yorker)

Brexit grief and regret

Brexit grief and regret