The politics of moral panic: Anthropology of mass-panicking processes of contemporary Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka society is an appropriate arena of research to the nature of moral engineering and moral enterprising for unending power struggle of supremacy seekers and pressure groups. The political as well as cultural elite-sponsored moral panics that come from many forms that based on semi-authentic or fault factors makes a huge damage to the social order of the nation. The long term disturbance to the nation development, social integrity and cultural ethical codes is immeasurable. This article deliberates over selected cases such as debate over chronicle kidney diseases, food poisoning, DCD, satirizing pills and satirizing surgery panics appeared in the contemporary history in Sri Lanka. The basic objective of this research is building a sociological discourse on the prevailed reality of the concurrent socio-political structure and revealing its effectives on Sri Lankan society. This paper that has been employed enclosing the discourse building a literary discourse on the concept of moral panic such as, reviewing worldwide experiences on masspanicking and the application these concepts to the concurrent Sri Lankan socio-political context. Primary data were extracted by selected newspaper articles, recorded public speeches made by influential individuals, blog reports, research reports and public acts regarding various issues related in the thematic area of this research. This study also has been built largely on the contour of secondary literature. Sociological as well as philosophical perceptions developed in multiple dimension on moral panic that has been used as tools of context analysis. Finally, this paper concludes the politicians, cultural elites and some pressure groups that seek contentment of their hidden political agendas shown as vital actors as moral engineers and moral entrepreneurs responsible for mass panicking. So-called mass media and uncensored social media users knowingly or unknowingly has carried out the needs of those groups.