<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Contemporary leadership practices in politics are full of emotions, which, on the one hand, may be a manifestation of various types of expressions or moods in the individual and collective dimension, and on the other hand, are an important source of political mobilization or an instrument enhancing effectiveness in the election competition. In this article inducing and politicizing savagery among followers— defined as an emotional social engineering strategy for articulating given goals and interests—will be treated as a populist manifestation and an expression of planned radicalization of political competition. The aim of the article is a meta theoretical reflection on the instrumentalisation of wildness in the leadership of the right-wing populist—Donald Trump. A practical rationale for discussing collective savagery in politics will be the attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. This event will serve as an example to explain the political exteriorization of the confrontational Trump followers, thanks to which the right-wing populist leader not only articulated his own goals, shaped public self-presentation or theatrical political presence, but also redefined and challenged the existing rules and principles of democratic political culture.
</abstract>

Savagery in right-wing populist leadership: between theatricality and political social engineering

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For a very long time, contemporary western societies and cultures have operated a censorship of emotions (Cambi,1998, p. 37): indeed, they have been studied especially in the psychoanalytic discipline and as main topic in the investigation of human behaviour (Ivi.,1996, p. 9). More recently, sociology has re-appropriated this “emotional” reflection, focusing the discourse on <italic>Homo Sentiens</italic> or <italic>Homo Patiens,</italic> in a passage from the individual identity the to the social one through a circular and self-poietic process: feelings and emotions (both primary and secondary) represent, the fundamental relational connection thanks to which are activated mechanisms of socialization and cultural transmission. The article aims to reflect on the emotions as social construction and linked to technologies with a high emotional connotation (Marmion, 2015, pp. 28-33).
</abstract>

Emotional syntax: from social construction to virtual function

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The topic of migration is often used by populist and non-populist politicians in order to arouse emotions, polarise social attitudes and thus mobilise voters. The present study aims to identify themes (a cognitive aspect of attitudes) and discrete emotions (an emotional aspect of attitudes) in online social discourse as a reaction to the media posts of the main Slovak political parties on the topic of migration in the pre-election period (January-February 2020). Methodological triangulation of discourse analysis and Text mining was used to analyse the data. Analysis of the discourse revealed that articles with pro-migrant rhetoric provoked more discussion about the security and identity threat, while articles by populists provoked more discussion about the morality of elites and the economic threat of migration. The evoked sentiment throughout the discourse leaned more towards negative emotions (fear, anger) but pro-migrant articles and articles by non-populist politicians evoked also positive emotions (joy). Results indicate that rather than fear of migration, the anticipation of a change in the morale of the elites was the key element of the pre-election period in Slovakia. Limitations and implications of the study are further discussed. The value of this paper lies in focusing on both emotional and cognitive aspects of attitudes towards migration.
</abstract>

Populism in the pre-election period: Analysis of the social discourse on the topic of migration in Slovak parliamentary election campaign 2020

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This paper offers an interdisciplinary perspective on the meaning of emotion in politics. Politics will be understood as a people’s ability to live together. The author is a ranging synthesis of social sciences, psychology, biology and neuroscience for better illustration of issues of populism and other forms of social engagement. The paper is in the form of bringing the topics of emotions as a compass of our common human behavioural political make-up. Using the landscape metaphor allows for exploring the complete divergence of human emotions, sunny peaks of empathy, altruism, trust and dark shadowed valleys of fear, anger and distrust. In this manner, some explanation for populist behaviour is given. Collecting various sources of data is offered to experiment with varied forms of narrative and finally to discuss the findings but also to articulate an “emotional” call to collective kindness.
</abstract>

Emotional landscape of politics

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

“The statesman’s task is to hear God’s footsteps marching through history, and to try and catch on to His coattails as He marches past” (Otto von Bismarck). Populist movements all across the globe somehow managed to catch it. Additionally, this happens in the most highly advanced and well established democracies of the world. What is even more intriguing is that the explanatory power of classical variables to account for this dynamics seems limited. On the other hand the role of emotions and the constructivist power of the mind by which they are created prove to be enormously insightful. Despite those observations there exists no systematic approach to the affective dimension. In contrast to investigations, that mainly focus on one single emotion, such as the <italic>politics of fear,</italic> here the interplay of the whole emotional game is regarded key to uncover the unseen, but felt reality underneath: The analysis reveals that the emotional negativity is mainly generated as a means to an end, namely to create at the same time a positive antidote and remedy. The strongest common denominator of this emotional logic is the technique of Altercasting, whereby the negativity is projected onto <italic>alter</italic> while what is positive is used to construct auto-affirmative identity-concepts of <italic>ego</italic>. This in turn led to the conclusion that self-esteem, which is hardly ever analyzed in these contexts, lies at the heart of the emotional constellation. Populist voters are therefore not primarily seen as opponents to democracy, but much more as seekers of a positive self-concept. Therefore the democratic system´s diminuition could be understood as a collateral damage to something much deeper seated in the human psyche. The case study chosen here is the PiS party´s election victory in 2016, which, on the abstract level of rhetorical meta-frames, is regarded as a pars pro toto for what is observed globally.
</abstract>

The creation of high self-esteem as a voting incentive

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Emotions have re-emerged as a central topic of sociological interest, especially today, in a complex social and political historical moment. Even politics and events narration is not exempt from the emotional compartment. New technologies and social media (including social networks) have changed communication, relationship processes, and social interaction, moving from a vertical to a horizontal narrative. We live in a “platform society” (Van Dijck, 2018) as online sites and social networks specialized for discussion were also come up with the organization of decision-making processes and the activation of democratic practices in their different “onlife” manifestations. However, one thing should be emphasized: platforms reproduce the social structures in which individuals live between participation, freedom of expression and the elaboration of public political debate. The article aims to synthetically reconstruct the sociological discourse on emotions in political discourse and social narrative and communication through traditional and new media.
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Emotions in political discourse and social narratives: sociological reflections on traditional and new media

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The aim of this paper is to show the relationship between the besieged fortress syndrome, understood as a specific social engineering tool, and populism understood as a type of propaganda narrative. Particular attention has been paid here to the emotional aspect related to arousing the atmosphere of the siege. These are negative emotions, which in the siege syndrome are directed beyond the boundaries of the social system, and in the case of populism, negative emotions are directed towards the indicated intra-system entities. An important assumption is a thesis that negative emotions in both phenomena constitute only a starting point for arousing positive emotions towards the community subjected to socio-technical pressure, and above all, positive emotions that are supposed to create a strong bond between the political leader, the propaganda promoter of the threat, and their supporters or followers.
</abstract>

Besieged fortress syndrome as an element in building the emotions of populism

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