Organized evil and the Atlantic alliance: Moral panics and the rhetoric of organized crime policing in America and Britain

Abstract

Moral panics are conventionally associated with the interpretations of youthful action imposed by powerful state or media forces. However, the concept is also useful in understanding more generally how social problems are constructed and presented. In this paper, we consider how a vague term such as 'organized crime' has emerged as a vehicle for exclusionary rhetorics in both the United States and Britain. While the origins of the organized crime moral panic in the United States can be located amongst moral entrepreneurs, the British version is marked by the outpourings of a right-wing media, and the influence of American foreign policy.