Emotions and the right – navigating feeling in the study of populism and reactionary politics

This roundtable explores the complex entanglements between emotion and far-right, populist, and reactionary politics. From fear and resentment to nostalgia and belonging, emotional currents are not only central to the appeal and mobilisation strategies of right-wing actors—they are also deeply present in the research process itself. How do scholars manage their own emotional responses when engaging with often hostile, polarising, or morally challenging subject matter? What emotional logics drive individuals and communities toward far-right ideologies? And how are emotions strategically cultivated, weaponised, or repressed within right-wing movements?

 Bringing together researchers working on these questions, this conversation will reflect on the affective dynamics of studying the Right: not only how emotion figures in the political phenomena they examine, but how it shapes the conditions, ethics, and experiences of their work.

Speakers

• Elisabeth Mörking, University of Bristol

• Uygar Baspehlivan, University of Bristol

• Charlie Price, University of Warwick

• Théo Aiolfi, University of Burgundy.

 Relevant works

• Elisabeth Moerking and Uygar Baspehlivan. 2025. “Ordinary Affects of Global Reactionary Politics.” Critical Studies on Security, March, 1–5.

• Charlie W. Price. 2025. “Help! My Parents Are Normies: Family Friends, GPS, and the World Economic Forum.” Critical Studies on Security, March, 1–5.

• Théo Aiolfi. The Populist Style: Trump, Le Pen and Performances of the Far Right, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2025.

 Registration will close two hours before the event begins.