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Asa Wettergren: National Emotive-Cognitive Processes of Closed Borders

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Asa Wettergren, Universität Göteburg, Schweden: National Emotive-Cognitive Processes of Closed Borders: ontological security and the collective emotion work of denied empathy

‘Fear of the stranger’ in the populace and ‘fear of losing in the next elections’ among politicians are broadly accepted explanations for closing borders but do they do the job to explain why Sweden turns from ‘open’ to ‘closed’ in the autumn of 2015? What emotive-cognitive processes can we identify in the current nation-state reactions to the momentum of migratory movements within and towards Europe? The question rests on the presumption that emotions fuel and motivate individual and collective action and is inseparable from rational action. It is thus relevant to map emotive-cognitive processes in order to pose adequate questions to the phenomenon of closed borders. I will draw on my previous research on the reception of asylum seekers in Sweden and argue that historical representations of the refugee as ‘inauthentic’ and of the sovereign nation-state’s obsession to control its borders and the ascription of (human) rights are constitutive of national ontological security and identity. The talk suggests some parallels and connections between national and individual identity and discusses the collective emotion work of denied empathy. Rather than presenting answers, the talk aims to spark questions for further research into the emotive-cognitive processes behind the moral collapse of the EU.

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