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Costly encounters of the empathic kind: a typology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2016

Naomi Head
Naomi Head*
Affiliation:
Politics, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
*
E-mail: Naomi.head@glasgow.ac.uk
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Abstract

While considerable attention is being accorded to emotions in International Relations, this article seeks to integrate empathy into these interdisciplinary debates. It counters the dominant assumption that empathy tends to be largely benign and beneficial by conceptualizing a typology of the costs of empathy. The dimensions of costs addressed are epistemological, cognitive, emotional, material, and embodied. I argue that these costs are frequently tangible for those who make the ethical-political choice to engage in empathy in situations of conflict and political violence. Drawing on social psychology approaches, empathy is located within a framework of collective narratives, emotions, and social structures shaped by both micro- and macro-political processes. A model of empathy, which acknowledges social influences and the psychological mechanisms through which these influences may be mediated, contributes to a deeper understanding of how politics, psychology, and culture shape empathy and, crucially, helps understand the conditions which may affect the successes, limitations, and failures of empathy in the (international) political sphere. The article offers empirical illustrations of the costs of empathy drawing on examples from Israel and Palestine.

Keywords

empathyemotionsIsrael/Palestinemicro-politicsnarrativeconflict transformation
Type
Original Papers
Information
International Theory , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 171 - 199
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Author interviews

Interview with Palestinian East Jerusalemite, September 6, 2013.Google Scholar
Interview with Nava Sonnenschein, Director of Neve Shalom–Wahat al-Salam (School for Peace), May 4, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Zoughbi Zoughbi, Director of the Wi’am Center for Conflict Resolution, May 5, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Eyal Naveh, Tel Aviv University, May 20, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Amos Gvirtz, Activist, Kibbutz Shefayim, May 14, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Yovav Kalifon, Tiyul Rihla, May 9, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Israeli NGO leader, May 9, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Ina Friedman, MachsomWatch, May 13, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Ahmed Helou, Tiyul Rihla, May 19, 2014.Google Scholar
Interview with Mohammed Dajani, Wasatia, May 21, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar