Moral shock

Moral shock is a concept which sociologists use for certain cognitive and emotional processes that encourage participation. James M. Jasper, who originally coined the term, used it to help explain why people might join a social movement in the absence of pre-existing social ties with members. It denotes a kind of visceral unease, triggered by personal or public events, that captures people’s attention. Moral shocks often force people to articulate their moral intuitions. It is an appealing concept because it brings together emotional, moral, and cognitive dynamics.^[1] Moral shocks have been shown to help recruit people to the animal rights movement,^[2] the movement for peace in Central America,^[3] and anti-racist movements.^[4]

Deborah Gould has suggested another role for moral shocks, radicalizing or reinforcing the commitment of those already active in a protest movement. She says that the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision by the U.S. Supreme Court had this effect on the U.S. gay and lesbian rights movements. Hardwick told the lesbian and gay community that their own government supported their oppression.^[5] Indignation at one’s own government can be especially moving, as it involves a sense of betrayal. Violent repression of peaceful protest is thus a frequent source of moral shock.

Brian Lowe suggests that moral shocks are especially likely when someone holds a sweeping movement ideology that takes the form of a “quasi-religion.”^[6]

References

1. ^ James M. Jasper, The Art of Moral Protest (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997).
2. ^ James M. Jasper and Jane Poulsen, "Recruiting Strangers and Friends: Moral Shocks and Social Networks in Animal Rights and Antinuclear Protest," Social Problems 42 (1995), pp. 493-512.
3. ^ Sharon Erikson Nepstad, Convictions of the Soul (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004).
4. ^ Mark R. Warren, Fire in the Heart: How White Activists Embrace Racial Justice (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
5. ^ Deborah Gould, Moving Politics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009).
6. ^ Brian M. Lowe, Emerging Moral Vocabularies (Lanham, MD.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2006).