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Passionate Belief: Ideology, Emotion and Terrorist Action


Ideologies sit at the intersection of thought and emotion, capable of inspiring some people to greatness and driving others to commit horrendous acts of violence. Providing more than just systematic arguments, ideologies encourage shared political identities, help explain social circumstance, and frame what actions need to be taken in response. Ideologies often carry a negative connotation, particularly in relation to acts labelled as terrorism. Yet ideologies encourage people to imagine a future that is better than the present. In this sense, they are narratives of hope that can help to ameliorate the pain of everyday life. This essay draws on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork conducted with former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army to examine the interplay between hope, ideology and acts of political violence. In doing so, it contributes to a growing body of scholarship that seeks to integrate emotions into the analyses of how individuals come to embrace violence as a political tactic.