The Cultural Politics of Contemporary Moral Panic Studies: Reflections on a Changing Research Agenda

Abstract

The publication of Fitzgerald and Smoczynski's article on societal reactions to polish labour migrants in the United Kingdom provides an important opportunity to refl ect on theoretical and conceptual advances that have been made in the sociology of moral panic. Conventional perspectives conceptualise panic episodes as exceptional rather than ordinary claims-making activities that amplify deviance in a manner that is disproportionate to actual threats. An alternative perspective aimed at revising conventional approaches widens the focus of analysis by conceptualising moral panic as a more routine than atypical expression of moral regulation in everyday life. This discussion paper clarifi es how moral panic is conceptualised as a form of moral regulation, and it identifi es three specifi c ways that Fitzgerald and Smoczynski's fi ndings complicate some of the assumptions characterising the changing framework in moral panic studies. The cultural politics of moral panic studiesTracing to Cohen's [2003] iconic depiction of the mods and rockers, moral panic studies has had a profound infl uence on the ways in which sociologists conceptualise crime, politics, deviance, and social control. Indeed, it is hard to imagine more than a handful of sociologists who are unfamiliar with either the term moral panic or its association with the mods and rockers. Many of the key concepts supporting Cohen's original text continue to inform studies in moral panic-for example folk devils, moral panics, deviance amplifi cation, exaggeration, control cultures-yet the cultural politics that engender episodes of moral panic have continued to change since the 1960s.Changes to the cultural politics underscoring not only episodes of moral panic but also contributions to moral panic studies are evident from a close read-* Direct all correspondence to:

Good moral panics? Normative ambivalence, social reaction, and coexisting responsibilities in everyday life

“…Beginning in the early 2000s, a growing number of studies has advanced beyond deconstructionist contributions by reconstructing the conventional focus of analysis (e.g., Carlson, 2015;Rohloff, 2011;Wright, 2015). The most developed (and defended) postconventional framework conceptualizes moral panics as short-term expression of ongoing moral regulation processes (Hier, 2002a(Hier, 2002b(Hier, , 2008(Hier, , 2011a(Hier, , 2015(Hier, , 2016. As Hunt explains, moral regulation is an important form of politics in everyday life that is transmitted through dialectical practices of signification, whereby 'some people act to problematise the conduct, values or culture of others and seek to impose regulation upon them' (1999: 1).…”

Moral Panic as a Form of the Cultural Field

“…Bir başka revizyonist akım ise ahlaki paniği yeniden düşünmeye davet eder. McRobbie ve Thornton (1995), Hier (2003Hier ( , 2008Hier ( , 2011Hier ( , 2015 ve Thompson (1998) ahlaki panik çalışmalarında geleneksel yaklaşımların devam eden önemini kabul ederler ve muhalifler tarafından sunulan bazı içgörüleri onaylamalarına rağmen ahlaki paniği yine de yeniden düşünmeye, değerlendirmeye çalışırlar. McRobbie ve Thornton (1995) ahlaki panik modelinin tam da başarısı nedeniyle acilen güncellenmesi ve gözden geçirilmesi gerektiğini düşünür.…”

Moral panic and the new neoliberal compromise

“…They functioned in this way by cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit among Polish labour migrants who were registered with the Workers Registration Scheme following the enlargement of the European Union in 2004. On the other hand, the individualizing ethos cutting across the British and Polish working class simultaneously functioned to conceal, or at least obscure, both the inherent contradictions of workers' responsibilities in the neoliberal economy generally and opportunities to consolidate working class solidarities after 2008 particularly (Hier, 2015).…”

“…By contrast, they argue that the panic consisted of a more inclusive process of responsibilizing both claims-makers and folk devils, where Polish labour migrants were subjected to a dual process of responsiblization for individually negotiating the crisis and collectively causing harm to the British workforce. In other words, the panic was not incited by Polish migrants' failure to adhere to normative codes of responsible conduct, but rather a putative material threat that divided a segment of the working class through the mystifying forces of the neoliberal global economy (Hier, 2015).…”