The subproject D04 is Zeppelin University's first participation in a special research area by the DFG and investigates the dynamic interplay between the emotions mediated by state agencies of the European Union (EU) and the emotional expressions of activist networks of the left and right spectrums.

With focus on European migration policy, the project investigates to what extent activist networks challenge institutionally embedded repertoires of emotions at the EU level and thereby are capable to question them. Furthermore, the project asks which actors are allowed to feel what, when and how, whose emotions are relevant to the discourse, and how the self-image and identity of the EU are affectively contested in migration policy.

The subject of investigation thus encompasses situations in which the meanings and forms of expression of individual emotional repertoires are disputed. The project describes these situations and events as affective sites of contestation, where rules and norms regarding the appropriateness and expression of emotions are questioned, rejected, and possibly redefined.