Moral Panics and Social Control in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Foreword

A moral(izing) virus: an introduction
Cirus Rinaldi, Morena Tartari and Riccardo Caldarera

Chapter 1. Navigating fear: how the pandemic moral regulation affected social control with adverse impacts on Italian society
Raffaella Sette and Simone Tuzza

Chapter 2. Tackling moral panic on the COVID-19 pandemic: highlights of the institutional response against infodemic in the Italian context
Michele Barbieri and Fabio Liguori

Chapter 3. Angels and “No Vax”: moral panics and social control in the COVID-19 pandemic
Gabriella Petti

Chapter 4. Care home staff and the COVID-19 vaccine mandate: the moral panic that nobody showed up for
Jim Greer

Chapter 5. Media representations of COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of moral panic in the Iranian society: a case study
Sahar Faeghi and Bahman Bayangani

Chapter 6. “Disease Spreaders”: anti-Roma racism in the time of COVID-19
Colin Clark, Iulius Rostas and Ethel Brooks

Chapter 7. Intersecting racialized and health panics: expanding the regime of illegality under the first Trump administration
Heidy Sarabia and Maria Vargas

Chapter 8. Moral panic and ethnic minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic: difference, control and ethnic exclusion in Berlin and Seville
Simone Castellani and Juan Pablo Aris Escarcena

Social control and moral panics in pandemic times: a conclusion
Morena Tartari

Biography

Morena Tartari is Associate Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, UK.

Cirus Rinaldi is Full Professor of Sociology of Law and Deviance in the Department of Cultures and Societies of the University of Palermo, Italy.

Riccardo Caldarera received his Master’s degree in Criminological and Forensic Psychology from the University of Turin. He is a Ph.D. student in “Disuguaglianze, differenze, partecipazione” at the University of Palermo, Italy.

“COVID-19 disrupted arrangements across a world shaped by new technologies and old social structures, and these papers explore a range of reactions to what proved to be both the pandemic’s medical and moral challenges.” - Joel Best, Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, USA

“The nexus between moral panics and social control allows to further illuminate the social dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving new life and perspective to concepts well established in the sociological tradition. As such, this edited volume is a great contribution to sociological inquiry, and an essential reading for academics who want to dive into some of the latest developments of moral panic studies.” - Anita Lavorgna, Associate Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna, Italy

“This book should be required reading for every contemporary critical criminologist. Each chapter provides ample food for thought and compels us to revisit the concept of moral panic.” - Walter S. DeKeseredy, Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Director of the Research Center on Violence, and Professor of Sociology, Fellow of the American Society of Criminology, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, USA

“From Italian balconies to American borders, this volume tracks how COVID-19 fears became moralized across continents. Its comparative sweep and sharp analyses make clear that pandemics never spread alone. They carry stigmas, scapegoats, and struggles over belonging.” - Olivier Fillieule, Professor, University of Lausanne, Switzerland