Flag Burning: Moral Panic and the Criminalization of Protest (Social Problems & Social Issues) Book

In Flag Burning, Michael Welch examines critically and in depth the controversy over flag desecration that has until now been ignored by sociologists and criminologists. Adopting a constructionist framework, he interprets the intensely negative societal reaction to flag burning as an instance of moral panic, a turbulent and exaggerated response to a putative social problem. What sets this particular response apart from other instances of moral panic is that it involves American civic religion, which bestows on a secular symbol, the flag, a quasi-sacred status and thus makes of its alleged burning or misuse an act of sacrilege. This book explores how flag burning penetrates the collective consciousness and arouses latent social anxiety. Although the Supreme Court has held that flag burning is political expression, and thus is shielded by the First Amendment, flag burning has been perceived as a symbolic threat to American society, a threat culminating in a disaster mentality. Subsequent legislative attempts to ban flag desecration have also failed to meet the constitutional test in the courts, but the issue has not been laid to rest. The contradictions of persistent efforts to ban unpopular political expression in a democracy that protects free speech abound in the key elements of social constructionism, moral panic, and social control. To his exploration of these issues, Welch brings a vivid narrative and rich examples drawn from protest art, courtroom saga, and media coverage.Read More