The psycho-discursive origins of moral panics: Attempting a new theoretical synthesis

Abstract

This paper attempts a new theoretical synthesis for studying ‘moral panics’. Its proposed model ties together Bion's psychoanalytic theory of the development of collective emotions with Foucault's discourse theory, particularly his account of the role of the moral code in the cultivation of subjectivity. This psycho-discursive model posits that moral panics are a collective emotional reaction to subjectively strenuous moral requirements and expectations produced by a particular type of discursive strain or discontinuity. Its central premise is that the Kleinian object relations that Bion saw as central to understanding collective emotions develop in relation to Foucault's notion of a socially sanctioned “moral self” – to “self” as an object of moral knowledge.