Customer Reviews

Culture of Fear: Risk-Taking And The Morality Of Low Expectations

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Kids' bike-riding is at an all-time low thanks to obsessions about safety. Every time I read a news-item like this I think of this book. Written in 1997, it was one of the first to identify that we have become too fearful of taking risks and that this has terrible consequences. What's even more impressive is that, unlike some superficial accounts which link these fears with technology or environmental hazards or fads, Furedi instead develops an argument which ties them to our lack of consensus on values. The book is full of American and European examples, and it's written in a lively style.

I am writing primarily to respond to the Chicago reviewer who found this book less valuable than Barry Glassner's book of the same title and the work of Philip Jenkins. Glassner probably writes better than Furedi, but he's not a better thinker. Glassner's book has received a lot of attention, and it probably deserves it, but it isn't all that profound a work. Furedi, on the other hand, even though he probably pushes his argument too far (i.e., dismisses as fear mongering some things that are probably not), is much richer in his analysis. Jenkins, I must say, I find a bit irritating - at least based on his book on terrorism. While he has obviously done his homework and knows a great deal about the subject, he really doesn't end up saying very much of use.

The author examines a topic that arguably will determine the definition and achievement of "progress". Unfortunately, his style makes reading a chore.

Those with an interest in this subject may want to buy this book, which does provide some interesting observations. But the writing is too dry, the examples too weighted toward the UK, and the overall conclusions too predictable to appeal to anyone else.

I ordered this book by mistake, thinking it was the book of the same title by the sociologist Barry Glassner . I don't know who Frank Furedi is, but he sure isn't a writer (though to be fair, this book does come from an academic publisher). It's hard to critique Furedi's argument because his writing is so turgid. I suggest that people interested in fear and panics read instead the work of people like Philip Jenkins, whose work on moral panics is truly pathbreaking, or Glassner, who writes with great style and wit. I am familiar with this literature and did not read anything in Furedi's book that was original or provocative.

Those with an interest in this subject may want to buy this book, which does provide some interesting observations. But the writing is too dry, the examples too weighted toward the UK, and the overall conclusions too predictable to appeal to anyone else.

I was recommended the book by a lecturer at my university as a must read to attempt to gain an understanding of the socio-political climate of our times. The book does not disappoint: Furedi's work is rational, informative, well argued and progressive. It points the direction forward in these "post-modern" times where the victim is celebrated and humankind's achievements have been forgotten. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to see the truth about many factors in todays society.