ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to propose a corrective of moral panic theory by introducing a concept of polarizing moral panics. We believe that the significant social and technological changes that have occurred since the 1970s have made the classical concept of moral panic less useful to describe and analyze most of the contemporary cases because it fails to include a variety of voices and a more divisive nature of modern moral panics. Polarizing moral panics are recurrent eruptions in an ongoing process of transformation of normative systems that manifest themselves in the intensive, media-amplified polarization of society over an issue, a condition or a group of persons. This leads to a clash between two moral communities and their respective and competitive visions of social order: one more conservative, the other more liberal. This can be fueled by employing politics of fear by politicians and other interest groups for political benefits. The first part of the article discusses the theory and the application of polarizing moral panics. The second part focuses on the refugee crisis in Poland in 2015–2016 as an illustration of the concept and its use to gain votes in a parliamentary election.

摘要

本文的目的是通过引入两极分化的道德恐慌的概念来提出对道德恐慌理论的纠正。我们认为，自 1970 年代以来发生的重大社会和技术变革使得道德恐慌的经典概念在描述和分析大多数当代案例时变得不那么有用，因为它没有包括各种声音和现代社会更具分裂性的性质。道德恐慌。两极分化的道德恐慌是规范体系持续转型过程中的反复爆发，表现为社会对一个问题、一个条件或一群人的强烈、媒体放大的两极分化。这导致了两个道德社区及其各自的竞争性社会秩序愿景之间的冲突：一个更保守，另一个更自由。这可以通过利用政治家和其他利益集团的恐惧政治来获取政治利益来推动。文章的第一部分讨论了极化道德恐慌的理论和应用。第二部分侧重于 2015-2016 年波兰的难民危机，以说明这一概念及其在议会选举中获得选票的用途。