Abstract:
Abstract It is now generally established that social theory can, even should, take into account the social force of emotions and the work that they do in the world. Emphasis so far has been on inauthenticity, victimology, distorting influences in individual and collective relationships, and democracy perverted through emotional demands and claims. But it is one thing to recognize that feelings are implicated in social processes and arrangements and quite another to search out the positive dimensions of what they do. This paper examines some of the ways in which contemporary social theorists have focused on the damage and dangers that may attach to emotions in public life. After inspecting the politics of such critiques I suggest that there is still space for some positive things that feelings might do.