No smoke without fire: Public health, morality, and the civilized self

Abstract

The implementation of the smoking ban in Ireland has been championed as one of the major achievements of public health policy. Studies on the smoking ban have predominantly been undertaken from a public health perspective and have pointed out the associated health benefits of the ban, especially in terms of the reduction of second-hand smoking. While the rationale for the smoking ban was founded on health and medical reasons, this paper contends that going beyond health concerns, a collective process which drew upon notions of progress, purity and order was central to the introduction and successful implementation of the smoking ban. The relevance of discourses around the “civilized self” in tobacco control is also discussed in the context of recent debates over the use and regulation of electronic cigarettes in public spaces.