Moral Panics in the Contemporary World

Moral Panics in the Contemporary Worldrepresents the best current theoretical and empirical work on the topic, taken from the international conference on moral panics held at Brunel University in December 2010. The range of contributors, from established scholars to emerging ones in the field, and from a working journalist as well, helps to cover a wide range of moral panics, both old and new, and extend the geographical scope of moral panic analysis to previously underrepresented areas. Designed from the outset to comprise a coherent and integrated set of viewpoints which share a common engagement with critically exploring moral panics in the contemporary world, it contains case studies instantly recognisable and familiar to a student readership (drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse and racism). The collection brings a fresh approach to analysis and argument by testing and extending the concept of moral panic and analyzing a range of topics and geographical contexts, accurately reflecting the state-of-the-art moral panics research today.

Chas Critcher is Visiting Professor in Media and Communications at Swansea University and Emeritus Professor of Communications at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.Jason Hughes is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University, UK.Amanda Rohloff is a PhD Candidate in Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University, UK.Julian Petley is Professor of Journalism and Screen Media, School of Arts, Brunel University, UK.