Theoretical Advances on an Epistemology of the Body, Emotions and Political Life

Abstract

We suggest there exist epistemological connections among research studies on the body, emotions and political sociology and, furthermore, that these connections can allow us to overcome the dichotomous limitations proposed by classical theoretical approaches. For this reason we consider the importance of understanding individuals through their emotions, analyzing their individuation processes and subjectivities. Specific proposals given by theoreticians focusing on the body allow us to inaugurate these studies comprising aspects of the political community which - for instance - range from fear to happiness and from intolerance to solidarity. In this way we identify domination mechanisms, both from their more private and emotional aspects and from their culturally differentiated contexts. Theoretical approaches based on the body and on an analysis of political phenomena alongside social research predict greater sociological depth in an era in which liberating intimate or private experiences occurs along with the most contradictory and paradoxical feelings.