Description
This paper explores the politics of emotional deference in IR which involves the claim that certain actors’ feelings deserve consideration. This dimension can be observed when a leader of a lower-status state demands deference to self-esteem of another actor to a superior-status state. Under what circumstances does the leader get to express self-esteem of one's nation, and the target government recognise this call? I ponder upon this question by analysing diplomatic negotiations between Japanese and American policymakers over Japan’s independence and peace treaty in 1951. This paper examines emotional deference to one's self-esteem can leave some actual inequality untouched in a hierarchical relationship, which is related to specific rights and duties of a lower-status state. This paper builds upon the theoretical discussions on a distributive politics of emotion (Gustafsson and Hall 2021), which creates contestation over who gets to express emotions, and what emotions are perceived as (il)legitimate. The case study on Japan will contribute to the growing studies on the relationship between the emotional politics and foreign policy in the context of East Asia.
