ABSTRACT
This chapter compares the findings of Chapters 5 and 6 – where figurational sociology and moral panic research were combined to analyse the development of climate change as a social problem – with other case studies where these approaches were also applied, but not in tandem, to address the development of perceived social problems, such as alcohol, (illegal) drugs, eating/obesity, terrorism or tobacco. This comparative analysis permits to highlight the added value of the present study. First, it contributes to identify the countervailing trends that occur in the context of moral panics and overcome the existent dichotomy between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ moral panics. And second, it contributes to reframe how the relation between civilizing processes, decivilizing processes and civilizing offensives is conceived.
