War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm

The emotional state of war-affected populations has become a central concern for international policy-makers over the last decade. Growing interest in war trauma is influenced by contemporary Anglo-American emotionology, or emotional norms, which tends to pathologize ordinary responses to distress,...

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Main Author: Pupavac, Vanessa
Format: Article
Published: Sage 2004
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1400/
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author Pupavac, Vanessa
author_facet Pupavac, Vanessa
author_sort Pupavac, Vanessa
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The emotional state of war-affected populations has become a central concern for international policy-makers over the last decade. Growing interest in war trauma is influenced by contemporary Anglo-American emotionology, or emotional norms, which tends to pathologize ordinary responses to distress, including anger related to survival strategies. The article critically analyzes the ascendancy of a therapeutic security paradigm in international politics, which seeks to explain the prevailing political, economic and social conditions in terms of cycles of emotional dysfunctionalism. The articles contends that international therapeutic governance pathologizes war-affected populations as emotionally dysfunctional and problematizes their right to self-government, leading to extensive external intervention. However, international therapeutic governance may be detrimental to post-war recovery as well legitimizing a denial of self-government.
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spelling nottingham-14002020-05-04T20:31:41Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1400/ War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm Pupavac, Vanessa The emotional state of war-affected populations has become a central concern for international policy-makers over the last decade. Growing interest in war trauma is influenced by contemporary Anglo-American emotionology, or emotional norms, which tends to pathologize ordinary responses to distress, including anger related to survival strategies. The article critically analyzes the ascendancy of a therapeutic security paradigm in international politics, which seeks to explain the prevailing political, economic and social conditions in terms of cycles of emotional dysfunctionalism. The articles contends that international therapeutic governance pathologizes war-affected populations as emotionally dysfunctional and problematizes their right to self-government, leading to extensive external intervention. However, international therapeutic governance may be detrimental to post-war recovery as well legitimizing a denial of self-government. Sage 2004 Article PeerReviewed Pupavac, Vanessa (2004) War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm. European Journal of Social Theory, 7 (2). pp. 149-170. ISSN 1368-4310 http://est.sagepub.com/content/7/2/149.full.pdf+html doi:10.1177/1368431004041749 doi:10.1177/1368431004041749
spellingShingle Pupavac, Vanessa
War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
title War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
title_full War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
title_fullStr War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
title_full_unstemmed War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
title_short War on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
title_sort war on the couch: the emotionology of the new international security paradigm
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1400/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1400/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1400/