MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE

Human rights defenders navigate complex and intense emotional journeys as they face risks. Some of these journeys are experienced collectively; some are undertaken alone. The extent to which defenders feel comfortable expressing their emotions to others are guided by (invisible) standards about what should be felt -- what sociologist Arlie Hochschild calls 'feeling rules'. Gendered 'feeling rules' that valorize human rights defenders as brave, committed, self-sacrificial and selfless shape what defenders feel they can express to others. In an international research project examining the experience of over 400 human rights defenders in Mexico, Colombia, Egypt, Kenya and Indonesia, they found that defenders experienced a wide range and depth of emotions -- including anger, indignation, fear, anxiety, dread, sadness, grief, resignation, disappointment and hopelessness as well as determination, trust, joy, hope, surprise, excitement, love and solidarity. These are better described as 'journeys', for emotions are rarely experienced in a static way. Defenders move from one emotion to another; their feelings are connected, even when they are contradictory.