Losing face in philippine labor confrontations: How shame may inhibit worker activism

Abstract

Shame is an emotion and a behavioral disposition. Developed within social relations of subordination and control, a sensitivity to being shamed is learned and internalized, then becomes an emotion that shapes capabilities to act, as it favors certain forms of behavior and precludes others. Converting passivity into action, says Tarrow, requires an emotional energy, an emotional force, which may be fuelled by anger, pride, loyalty, and other vitalizing emotions. Shame is, in contrast, decidedly devitalizing (Tarrow 1998, pp. 111-112). © 2007 Springer-Verlag New York.