Emotions as a Resource for Stigmatized Movements: Success of a Japanese Right-Wing Movement

• In Event: 463 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Mobilization and Participation in Right Wing Movements

Abstract

Resurgence of racist and right-wing activism around the world poses an intriguing puzzle; how were culturally stigmatized social movements such as these movements able to achieve a considerable degree of mobilization? Right-wing movements in Japan have been marginalized in society and considered a “public nuisance,” yet recently have shown a degree of mobilization success. Drawing on original and secondary analysis of interview data with 46 activists of a new Japanese right-wing movement, I offer a partial answer to the question of mobilization success by stigmatized movements. Rather than following structuralist explanations that treat motivation of activists as given, this paper sees emotions as a vital resource for stigmatized movements. The analysis shows that movements’ capacity to evoke strong emotions is crucial to the recruitment of new members, especially for the majority of activists who did not have network connections with movement members prior to their participation, as structuralist theories emphasize. At the same time, because stigmatized movements provide less material and symbolic benefits of participation than other movements, long-term emotional bonds and sense of enjoyment have a central importance in keeping activists committed. Thus, following the cultural approach to emotions in social movements (Jasper 1997; Goodwin, Jasper and Polletta eds. 2001), I argue that emotions provide a core resource for mobilization of the Japanese right-wing movement, and thereby underscore the importance of non-structural basis of mobilization for stigmatized social movements.

Author

• Yuki Asahina, University of Hawaii-Manoa