Solidarity, uncertainty or fear? Emotional responses to flags and flag-waving at an international youth camp

The article examines the relationship between national flags, actors’ emotional responses and the specific environment in which the act of flagging occurs. Building on a conceptual framework composed of the three elements of object, site and discourse, the author demonstrates through an analysis of four incidents observed at a youth camp how the meanings attributed to a specific group and its symbols within Danish media and society generate in spectators a sense of cultural proximity, and solidarity, or distance, and possibly fear. The research draws attention to the significance of the affective and material dimensions to intercultural encounters, as well as the role of the environment in producing particular emotions.