‘Come together’: An ethnographic study of ‘resistance as ‘emotion work’’ during academic industrial action following the imposition of a new management strategy

Abstract

This article draws on an ethnographic study of academic industrial action to introduce the exploratory concept of ‘Resistance as “Emotion work”’. It refers to how those resisting produce and repress emotions in themselves and others in organised and emergent ways. It is posited that emotions are ephemeral, interwoven, ambiguous and double-edged, which needs to be considered in relation to collective resistance. In contrast to recent literature that has identified individual and hidden expressions of ‘emotional resistance’, this article explores how resistance as emotion work is an important condition of collective resistance. Although unpredictable and opaque, it is argued that focusing on resistance as emotion work can enrich our understanding of resistance and thereby better prepare those resisting for its trials and tribulations.