Talk:
“Making Human Rights Emotional: A Research Agenda to Recover Shame in “Naming and Shaming”
by
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aslı Ilgıt
Department of Political Science and International Relations,
Cukurova University
Thursday, November 21, 2019, 10:30 a.m.
FEASS Building, A-130
Abstract:
Shame is an emotion that is the cornerstone of International Relations (IR) human rights scholarship but remains undertheorized from an explicitly emotional perspective. Given the dubious and unsettled efficacy of human rights “naming and shaming” campaigns, in this article, we outline the theoretical and methodological contours of a research agenda designed (1) to uncover the emotional content of naming and shaming and (2) to pay greater attention to how nonstate actors, especially human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), evoke and experience shame, thus engaging in “emotional diplomacy.” Drawing on theories of emotions in IR and political psychology, we present a thicker account of shame by highlighting the individual and social origins of shame, discussing different varieties of shame, and by distinguishing between emotions that are often conflated with shame. We end with a discussion of the methodological tools suitable for pursuing this agenda, using examples of prominent human rights NGOs.
Short Bio:
Dr. Aslı ILGIT is an Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science and International Relations at Cukurova University, with research interests in politics of identity, ontological security, emotions, migration, and foreign and security policy. Her work has been published in Review of International Studies, Political Psychology, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Security Dialogue, Mediterranean Politics, Defense and Security Analysis, The World Financial Review, and MERIP. She also has solo- and co-authored book chapters published in Psychology and Constructivism in International Relations: An Ideational Alliance (eds. Vaughn P. Shannon and Paul A. Kowert) University of Michigan Press (with Binnur Özkececi-Taner), in The Middle East in the World: An Introduction (ed. Lucia Volk), Routledge; and in Turkey’s Syrians: Today and Tomorrow (eds. Deniz Eroğlu Utku, K. Onur Unutulmaz, İbrahim Sirkeci ), TP: London (with Fulya Memişoğlu).