The personal is political: Emotional performances and political mobilisations among Bangladeshi women

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of emotions in women’s political mobilizations in Bangladesh. Reflecting on how the political platform Gonojagoron Moncho updates discourse on Bengali nationalism and the traumas of Liberation War, I focus on the non-verbal aspects of the emotional performances of female activists in order to understand how they use their bodies to mobilise people politically. Their embodied challenge to religious and cultural restrictions on their behaviours - both on and offline - points to the importance of their performances for acquiring more powerful positions in the group and society. This research was developed through the combination of different qualitative methods, particularly participant observation and photographic documentation.