Description
The paper is interested in emotional hierarchies and in how they are reinforced by value systems and ‘internalised power relations’ (Hutchison et al 2024: 157). Who is allowed to feel, be, desire, and know what (Agathangelou 2019: 212)? To this end, the paper looks at the cases of Shamima Begum (UK) and Leonora Messing (Germany), two girls who joined ISIS being 16 and 15 years old respectively. The stories of both girls were published in form of podcasts by investigative journalists in the UK and Germany. Yet, the outcome of their stories couldn’t be more different. While Shamima Begum is still in the al-Roj detention camp in Syria with her British citizenship removed, Leonora Messing returned home with her kids to Germany, faced legal proceedings, and was released on parole. We look at the government responses in both cases and illustrate how they play with emotive imagery and discourse appealing to protection and security, and whose to prioritise – the collective’s (nation) or the individual’s. Given the contrast in outcome, we address to what extent emotions are gendered, raced, and classed within internalised hierarchies and power relations.
