Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 15 Feb 2007

The Dynamics of Emotion and Activism: Grief, Gender, and Collective Identity in Revolutionary Nicaragua

Page Range: 461 – 474
DOI: 10.17813/maiq.11.4.q21r3432561l21t7
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This article argues for a multidirectional and gendered understanding of the causal relationship between emotion and collective identity. Based on interviews and participant observation with core members of a Nicaraguan mothers' organization, I identify four ways in which emotion and identity are causally linked: emotion-based identity, therapy, affective bonds, and change in collective identity leading to change in grieving style. These indicate a dynamic relationship between emotion and collective identity. Furthermore, to understand emotion-based collective identity and perceptions of the emotional benefits of participation, this relationship must be understood through gendered cultural expectations about emotion.

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