From terror attacks to paedophilia, our era is in thrall to fear. Throughout history, the fears of a society have defined the people who live in it. In this course, Professor Frank Furedi confronts the causes of our anxieties and uncovers what they say about the way we live now. Can we combat the culture of fear?

By the end of the course, you will have learned:

• Why the globalised world has become paralysed by fear.
• What the cultural script we use to explain our fears says about our society.
• How cultures managed to deal with atrocities such as Hiroshima, and why ours would fail.
• Why fear arises and how it can be combatted.
• The reasons behind our fascination with the apocalypse.

As part of the course, there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning, discussion boards to have your say, and suggested further readings set by Professor Furedi to stimulate a deeper exploration of the topic.

IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.

Frank Furedi

Frank Furedi is an emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent and a prolific author of modern political philosophy in the public sphere. His recent books cover the culture wars, democracy, borders and fear as broad topics. The through line of his work is an analysis of how western democracies fail to account for risk and uncertainty in decision-making. 

He also regularly comments on radio and television. He has appeared on Newsnight, Sky news and BBC news. he has also been published in the New Scientist, Guardian, Financial Times and Daily Telegraph to name but a few. 

• Furedi, F., Culture of Fear Revisited: Risk-Taking and the Morality of Low Expectation, (London: Continuum, 2006).
• Furedi, F., Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown, (London: Continuum, 2007).
• Glassner, B., The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, (New York: Basic Books, 2018 [original 1999]).
• Bauman, Z., Liquid Fear, (Cambridge: Polity, 2006).
• Robin, C., Fear: The History of a Political Idea, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
• Corey, R. C., Apocalypse and Culture: The Shadow of Catastrophe in Western Thought, (New York: Routledge, 1998).
• Beck, U., Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, (London: Sage, 1992).
• Tulloch, J., Lupton, D., Risk and Everyday Life, (London: Sage, 2003).