Drawing on recent work on affective citizenship and agonistic emotions, this article explores the role of emotions in discussions of controversial issues in Norwegian high schools. Empirical material was collected through individual interviews with 11 teachers (two of whom were interviewed together) and group interviews with 28 students (five or six students per group). This study contributes to the literature on the teaching of controversial issues by shedding light on the affective dynamics and emotional complexities involved. This task was carried out along two interrelated lines of inquiry. First, it explored the role of emotions in starting and sustaining discussions of controversial issues in the classroom. Second, it explored how the management and display of emotions are embedded in the constitution of interactional patterns.