The concept of moral panic describes a dynamic in which a specific group is constructed as homogenous, alien, deviant and danger to the moral order of society. The article presents two case studies of moral panics surrounding the arrival of refugees in Germany: 1) Public debates around crime and the refugee shelter in Sigmaringen and 2) discussions about rape and refugees in Tübingen. Typical elements of the moral panics in both cases are long chains of equivalence, a generalized suspicion against targeted groups, the retrospective construction of an endangered idyll, the reference to a supposed common sense in opposition to a naive political correctness as well as the claim of permissive and helpless legal and police authorities. Social media such as Facebook facilitates a quick diffusion of moral panics. Strategic interventions of openly racist accounts play an important role in this dynamic. © 2019 suburban eV. All rights reserved.

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