How Fear Works: Culture of Fear in the Twenty-First Century by Frank Furedi

Fear has always been a dominant element of human existence, across all human societies, but has our attitude to it changed? It might be argued that our concern with threats has become more pronounced. Is the twenty-first century an especially fearful period in human history?

At the heart of Frank Furedi’s book is the striking assertion that the concept of ‘fear’ is key to understanding our current socio-historical condition: his claim is that we are caught in a ‘culture of fear’. According to Furedi, the idea of a culture of fear provides genuine insight into our current predicament, that is, what is to be regretted about the present.