Abstract
An especially difficult ten-day period for Taylor Swift and her fans occurred in late July to early August 2024 as the Eras Tour was wrapping up its European leg. On July 29, 2024, a Taylor Swift themed yoga and dance workshop taking place in Southport, United Kingdom, was attacked. A disaster was realized as three children were killed during a criminal mass stabbing attack. On August 7, 2024, a sequence of three Eras Tour concerts intended to be held in Vienna, Austria, was suddenly cancelled due to the discovery of an anticipated terrorist attack that was in the advanced stages of planning. A disaster at the stadium in Vienna was avoided as a mass casualty attack was foiled. This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to consider why criminals or terrorists may be motivated to attack Taylor Swift related events. Drawing from a primary critical lens of disaster risk social sciences, the authors argue that the social construction of risk concept is key to understanding the root causes of the harm that threatened Taylor Swift and her fans during the Eras Tour.
Recommended Citation
Rozdilsky, Jack L. and Shortt, Talia
(2026)
"Taylor Swift and the Social Construction of Risk: Harms Realized and Avoided,"
The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://orb.binghamton.edu/jotss/vol1/iss1/4