Moral panics, the media and the law in early modern England /
Lemmings, David.
Walker, Claire,1965-
Basingstoke ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan,
2009.
"This book explores and exemplifies some of the subtler links between opinion, governance and law in early modern England by investigating moral panics. Modern media-driven 'law and order' panics may have originated in eighteenth-century England, with the development of the press and government sensibility to opinion, but there were earlier panics about witchcraft and popery. Essays by an experienced team of scholars discuss broadly episodes of moral panic before and after 1689, and consider their implications for changes in governance"--Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: law and order, moral panics, and early modern England / David Lemmings -- The concept of the moral panic: an historico-sociological positioning / David Rowe -- 'This newe army of satan': the Jesuit mission and the formation of public opinion in Elizabethan England / Alexandra Walsham -- Cross-dressing and pamphleteering in early seventeenth-century London / Anna Bayman -- Fear made flesh: the English witch-panic of 1645-7 / Malcolm Gaskill -- 'A sainct in shewe, a devill in deede': moral panics and anti-Puritanism in seventeenth-century England / Tim Harris -- 'Remember Justice Godfrey': the popish plot and the construction of panic in seventeenth-century media / Claire Walker -- The dark side of Enlightenment: the London Journal, moral panics, and the law in the eighteenth century / David Lemmings -- Forgers and forgery: severity and social identity in eighteenth-century England / Randall McGowen -- 'How frail are lovers vows, and dicers oaths': gaming, governing and moral panic in Britain, 1781-1782 / Donna T. Andrew -- A moral panic in eighteenth-century London? The 'monster' and the press / Cindy McCreery -- The British Jacobins: folk devils in the age of counter-revolution? / Michael T. Davis -- Conclusion: moral panics, law and the transformation of the public sphere in early modern England / David Lemmings.
"This book explores and exemplifies some of the subtler links between opinion, governance and law in early modern England by investigating moral panics. Modern media-driven 'law and order' panics may have originated in eighteenth-century England, with the development of the press and government sensibility to opinion, but there were earlier panics about witchcraft and popery. Essays by an experienced team of scholars discuss broadly episodes of moral panic before and after 1689, and consider their implications for changes in governance"--Provided by publisher.
Moral panics