Moral Panic and Politics of Fear

What are the political uses and content of fear? This course traces the politics of panic as a window onto state, stigma, and society by pairing foundational readings in culture studies with historical monographs grounded in case studies. Over the course of the semester, we will consider such themes as: the mobilization of fear as a strategy of governance; sexuality, sickness, and disgust; the political logic of backlash; racial terror and colonialism; paranoia and conspiracy theories; popular culture and elite repression and appropriation; and the supernatural inflection of fear politics.