Criminalization and deviantization as properties of the social order

It is argued that deviance should be analyzed as a relative phenomenon in different and changing cultures, vis‐a‐vis change and stability in the boundaries of diverse symbolic‐moral universes. Deviantization and criminalization are interpreted as the outcomes of negotiations about the nature of morality and legitimization to use, and the use of, power. The legitimization of power is conceptualized in terms of a moral order that in turn defines the boundaries of symbolic‐moral universes. Problematic behavioural acts, which take place at the realm of the seams, where boundaries of different symbolic‐moral universes meet and touch, or which are directed from the periphery of a symbolic‐moral universe towards its centre and vice versa, and which involve challenges (use or abuse) of power and morality would fall in the area of deviance. A distinction is made between regular deviance where the element of power is typically implicit and the element of morality is much more salient, and political deviance where the elements of power and morality are both explicit. Political deviance is further divided into three categories: challenges to the rulers, challenges from the rulers and contests between symbolic‐moral universes from different cultures. Conceptualizing deviance in this way enables us to interpret processes of deviantization and criminalization within the context of central social processes. The November 1944 assassination of Lord Moyne is used to demonstrate how the above theoretical approach can be utilized to develop a sociological interpretation of the case. 1992 The Editorial Board of The Sociological Review