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Auto-ethnography and the Study of Affect and Emotion in World Politics: Investigating Security Discourses at London’s Imperial War Museum

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Researching Emotions in International Relations

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in International Relations ((PSIR))

Abstract

At the Imperial War Museum in London, UK citizens and international tourists immerse themselves into stories of ‘Britain at war’ through interactive exhibits, themed cafes, and gift shops that engage them affectively: they stimulate the senses, choreograph bodily movement, and stir the soul. Auto-ethnography at the museum involves the tracing of one’s sensory interactions, movements, and consumption within this space. Embedded in a discourse analysis that also includes curators’ reports and visitors’ online reviews, auto-ethnography reveals the crafted character of visitors’ experiences of war. It documents how the museum engineers affect and, in so doing, promotes the idea that the UK wages ‘just wars’, thus reinforcing international support for its current and future interventions abroad.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The IWM also comprises the Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast, also in London, as well as two other sites located outside London, the IWM Duxford, which considers itself ‘the European centre of aviation history’ (IWM, 2014) and IWM North in Manchester. This chapter only considers the IWM headquarters.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Audrey Reeves

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  1. Audrey Reeves
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of International Politics, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Germany

    Maéva Clément

  2. FNRS / University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Eric Sangar

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Reeves, A. (2018). Auto-ethnography and the Study of Affect and Emotion in World Politics: Investigating Security Discourses at London’s Imperial War Museum. In: Clément, M., Sangar, E. (eds) Researching Emotions in International Relations. Palgrave Studies in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65575-8_5

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