Protestors’ Emotional Work in Contexts of Marginalisation: The Emancipation of “Forced Migrants” in Germany

This article explores the relation between migrants’ political subjectivity and the emotional dimension of protest. Although a vast literature analyses these dimensions, few studies have explored how social movements aim to trigger processes of political subjectivity formation and emotional transformations in contexts in which activists face marginalisation. I propose to analyse the effects of such a context through the focus on a movement mobilising against the exclusion of migrants in Germany. I show how activists strategically construct a political subjectivity based on the “forced migration” and “resistance” framework and aim to trigger feelings of emancipation among participants. At a more general level, I explore the transformative dimension of protest through the analysis of how activists strategically aim to transform negative and deactivating emotions (isolation, humiliation, and fear) into positive and activating emotions (loyalty, determination, and pride) in the course of collective action.