Workshop at the Freie Universität in Berlin

On June 25th and 26th, a workshop on „Methodological Approaches to Studying Emotions and Social Movements: Insights, Challenges, and New Research Avenues“ took place at Freie Universität in Berlin. Organized by the research project D04 „Affective Contestation: Dynamics of a Contested Emotional Politics in European Migration Policy” at CRC 1171 Affective Societies, including Prof. Dr. Simon Koschut, Gabriela Pancheva, Jonas Harbke and Victoria Kreuer.

The Workshop was opened with a keynote lecture titled „Global Conservatism, Micropolitics, and World (Dis)Ordering" by Ty Solomon, Professor of International Relations in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow. By sharing insights from ongoing research and discussing new conceptual and methodological tools, existing approaches were refined and emerging research avenues explored. The workshop encouraged contributions reflecting on the affective dynamics of activism, Methodological innovations for studying emotions in social movements, and the challenge of conducting fieldwork in emotionally intense settings. Scholars exploring emotions in political mobilizations through qualitative methods were invited to share theoretical and empirical insights and engage in a collaborative exchange on studying emotions in activism with reflexivity and contextual sensitivity.