Emotionen als Motivationsbasis der Sozialkämpfe

The paper starts from the thesis that in social reality every experiences of injustice of single individuals or social groups always has an emotional dimension, and that it can be interpreted as a breach of the normative unwritten social contract of a specific society in a certain historical period. This thesis is analysed within Barrington Moore Jr.’s theoretical framework, and then discussed in the light of Honneth’s theory of disrespect as the negative side of recognition. Proceeding with a problematization of Honneth’s interpretation of the relation between disrespect and negative emotional reactions, the paper finally draws attention to the «regressive» emotional effects of experiences of injustice.