Frank Furedi – författare

'Populist' is now most commonly used as a term of abuse. Populists, we are repeatedly told, are xenophobic ignoramuses offering irrational, emotive solutions to complex problems. But is this true?Frank Furedi argues that this is a self-serving narrative that owes more to the desire of elites to protect their own power and interests than it does to the truth. The widespread disdain expressed towards populism in the media and by many academics is in fact poorly concealed contempt towards the idea of popular sovereignty and democratic decision-making. Populism is not equivalent to any specific ideology, as populist politicians vary greatly in their substantive views, but it is rather a broad disposition towards public life that stresses the value of giving the ordinary citizen a genuine voice in political decision-making. Attacks on 'populism' most commonly reveal the desire of those who run our institutions to keep real authority in the hands of unaccountable elites who veil their power under the guise of 'expertise'.This bracing defence of basic democratic values by one of our most fearless polemicists should be read by anyone who mistakes the complacent assurances of our elite for the wisdom of our betters.

Frank Furedi returns to the theme of Fear in our society and culture.In 1997, Frank Furedi published a book called Culture of Fear. It was widely acclaimed as perceptive and prophetic. Now Furedi returns to his original theme, as most of what he predicted has come true. In How Fear Works, Furedi seeks to explain two interrelated themes: why has fear acquired such a morally commanding status in society today and how has the way we fear today changed from the way that it was experienced in the past? Furedi argues that one of the main drivers of the culture of fear is unravelling of moral authority. Fear appears to provide a provisional solution to moral uncertainty and is for that reason embraced by a variety of interests, parties and individuals. Furedi predicts that until society finds a more positive orientation towards uncertainty the politicisation of fear will flourish.Society is continually bombarded with the message that the threats it faces are incalculable and cannot be managed or contained. The ascendancy of this outlook has been paralleled by the cultivation of helplessness and passivity – all this has heightened people’s sense of powerlessness and anxiety. As a consequence we are constantly searching for new forms of security, both physical and ontological. What are the drivers of fear, what is the role of the media in its promotion, and who actually benefits from this culture of fear?These are some of the issues Furedi tackles to explain the current predicament. He believes that through understanding how fear works, we can encourage attitudes that will help bring about a less fearful future.

Dr Furedi's ideas on how to stop disabling today's youth and instead bring out their full potential is invaluable advice to all parents, carers and teachers."Paranoid Parenting" is an important book that shows how parental fears have been stoked and families harmed as a consequence. It ought to be read by every sensible individual interested in regaining a sane viewpoint that advances children's well-being. It seems that every day there is a warning about your children: everything from cots, babysitters, schools, supermarkets and public parks pose a danger. We are told that children's health, safety and welfare and constantly at risk. Based on sociological research as well as dozens of interviews, this book will bolster your confidence in your own judgements and enable you to bring up self-assured, imaginative, capable children. If you want to understand why adults act like children and children act like adults - in short, if you want to understand why raising children today is harder than ever before - read this book.

The radical transformation that universities are undergoing today is no less far-reaching than the upheavals that it experienced in the 1960s. However today, when almost 50 per cent of young people participate in higher education, what occurs in universities matters directly to the whole of society.On both sides of the Atlantic curious and disturbing events on campuses has become a matter of concern not just for academics but also for the general public. What is one to make of the growing trend of banning speakers? What’s the meaning of trigger warnings, cultural appropriation, micro-aggression or safe spaces? And why are some students going around arguing that academic freedom is no big deal?What's Happened To The University? offers an answer to the questions of why campus culture is undergoing such a dramatic transformation and why the term moral quarantine refers to the infantilising project of insulating students from offence and a variety of moral harms.

Western society has become estranged from the borders and social boundaries that have for centuries given meaning to human experience. This book argues that the controversy surrounding mass migration and physical borders runs in parallel and is closely connected to the debates surrounding the symbolic boundaries people need to guide on the issues of everyday life.Numerous commentators claim that borders have become irrelevant in the age of mass migration and globalisation. Some go so far as to argue for ‘No Borders’. And it is not merely the boundaries that divide nations that are under attack! The traditional boundaries that separate adults from children, or men from women, or humans from animals, or citizens and non-citizens, or the private from the public sphere are often condemned as arbitrary, unnatural, and even unjust. Paradoxically, the attempt to alter or abolish conventional boundaries coexists with the imperative of constructing new ones. No-Border campaigners call for safe spaces. Opponents of cultural appropriation demand the policing of language and advocates of identity politics are busy building boundaries to keep out would-be encroachers on their identity. Furedi argues that the key driver of the confusion surrounding borders and boundaries is the difficulty that society has in endowing experience with meaning. The most striking symptom of this trend is the cultural devaluation of the act of judgment, which has led to a loss of clarity about the moral boundaries in everyday life. The infantilisation of adults that runs in tandem with the adultification of children offers a striking example of the consequence of non-judgmentalism.Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in cultural sociology, sociology of knowledge, philosophy, political theory, and cultural studies.

Western society has become estranged from the borders and social boundaries that have for centuries given meaning to human experience. This book argues that the controversy surrounding mass migration and physical borders runs in parallel and is closely connected to the debates surrounding the symbolic boundaries people need to guide on the issues of everyday life.Numerous commentators claim that borders have become irrelevant in the age of mass migration and globalisation. Some go so far as to argue for ‘No Borders’. And it is not merely the boundaries that divide nations that are under attack! The traditional boundaries that separate adults from children, or men from women, or humans from animals, or citizens and non-citizens, or the private from the public sphere are often condemned as arbitrary, unnatural, and even unjust. Paradoxically, the attempt to alter or abolish conventional boundaries coexists with the imperative of constructing new ones. No-Border campaigners call for safe spaces. Opponents of cultural appropriation demand the policing of language and advocates of identity politics are busy building boundaries to keep out would-be encroachers on their identity. Furedi argues that the key driver of the confusion surrounding borders and boundaries is the difficulty that society has in endowing experience with meaning. The most striking symptom of this trend is the cultural devaluation of the act of judgment, which has led to a loss of clarity about the moral boundaries in everyday life. The infantilisation of adults that runs in tandem with the adultification of children offers a striking example of the consequence of non-judgmentalism.Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in cultural sociology, sociology of knowledge, philosophy, political theory, and cultural studies.

Therapy Culture explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Professor Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology. Terms like people 'at risk', 'scarred for life' or 'emotional damage' evoke a unique sense of powerlessness. Furedi questions the widely accepted thesis that the therapeutic turn represents an enlightened shift towards emotions. He claims that therapeutic culture is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of people's emotions. Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapeutic culture incites people to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, political and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of the therapeutic turn.

First published in 2004. Therapy Culture explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Professor Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn towards the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly, vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology. Terms like 'at risk', 'scarred for life' or 'emotional damage' evoke a unique sense of powerlessness. Furedi questions widely accepted thesis that the therapeutic culture is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of people's emotions. Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapeutic culture incites people to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, political and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of the therapeutic turn.

Concern with authority is as old as human history itself. Eve's sin was to challenge the authority of God by disobeying his rule. Frank Furedi explores how authority was contested in ancient Greece and given a powerful meaning in Imperial Rome. Debates about religious and secular authority dominated Europe through the Middle Ages and the Reformation. The modern world attempted to develop new foundations for authority - democratic consent, public opinion, science - yet Furedi shows that this problem has remained unresolved, arguing that today the authority of authority is questioned. This historical sociology of authority seeks to explain how the contemporary problems of mistrust and the loss of legitimacy of many institutions are informed by the previous attempts to solve the problem of authority. It argues that the key pioneers of the social sciences (Marx, Durkheim, Simmel, Tonnies and especially Weber) regarded this question as one of the principal challenges facing society.

Frank Furedi examines the sources of controversy that have arisen around the question of history in Germany, Japan, Britain and the USA.

During the nineteenth-century vast areas of the underdeveloped world were invaded and colonised under the justification of Anti Slavery and the Civilising Mission. In this powerful analysis, Furedi demonstrates how, in the late twentieth century, the major nations of the West are again intervening in the Third World - this time legitimising their actions on new moral grounds. Furedi's multidisciplinary study examines the language, nature and origins of the new moral justification for such massive intervention. Furedi argues that, in the wake of the collapse of Soviet communism, the West now presents the Third World as the major threat to international stability, offering Western democracy and financial systems as the solution, thus providing a 'new moral imperative' for rebuilding a viable imperialist ideology. Furedi examines this new anti-Third World view and concludes that we are experiencing the rehabilitation of the imperialist ideas that are depriving post colonial societies of their own moral authority.

Racial identity has been central to twentieth-century Western imagination. Yet, argues Frank Füredi, advocates of racial identity have long felt uncomfortable with the racialised global order they created.In The Silent War, Frank Füredi provides a radical exploration of the origins of the Anglo-American race relations industry, arguing that its emergence was driven by a conservative impulse of damage limitation; white racial fears and the internal crisis of confidence of the Anglo-American elites helping to transform racial thinking into a defensive philosophy of race relations. Füredi reveals how this shift in the conceptualisation of race is reflected in the management of international relations and demonstrates how, by the 1940s, Western powers were reluctant to openly use the discourse of race in international affairs. The Silent War examines the extent of the silent race agenda in the postwar era and helps explain why North–South affairs continue to be influenced by the issue of race.

Many experts believe that population growth is the greatest threat facing humanity. Others argue that the link between population growth and insecurity is unproven. This concise and provocative book discusses both sides of this debate, examining the way the arguments have changed and evolved, and questioning the assumptions of the main protagonists. Furedi argues that the western preoccupation with population growth reveals more about the internal concerns of western societies than the socio-economic development of the south. He suggests that attempts to establish a causal link between increases in population and poverty lead to a pragmatic, even manipulative approach to the issue of development. Examining a broad range of key debates and controversies - the 'population bomb' in Asia, the culture of a distinct regime of African fertility, the role of education in stabilizing population growth in Kerala - he contends that the marginalization of the goal of development is the outcome of a narrow concern with population policies. He fears that the recent shift of the population agenda towards the problems of the environment, gender equality and reproductive health is informed by a similar opportunistic pragmatism.Challenging and original, this book will be essential reading for students and specialists in development studies, sociology, and population studies, and for anyone interested in the debates surrounding world population growth.

Many experts believe that population growth is the greatest threat facing humanity. Others argue that the link between population growth and insecurity is unproven. This concise and provocative book discusses both sides of this debate, examining the way the arguments have changed and evolved, and questioning the assumptions of the main protagonists. Furedi argues that the western preoccupation with population growth reveals more about the internal concerns of western societies than the socio-economic development of the south. He suggests that attempts to establish a causal link between increases in population and poverty lead to a pragmatic, even manipulative approach to the issue of development. Examining a broad range of key debates and controversies - the 'population bomb' in Asia, the culture of a distinct regime of African fertility, the role of education in stabilizing population growth in Kerala - he contends that the marginalization of the goal of development is the outcome of a narrow concern with population policies. He fears that the recent shift of the population agenda towards the problems of the environment, gender equality and reproductive health is informed by a similar opportunistic pragmatism.Challenging and original, this book will be essential reading for students and specialists in development studies, sociology, and population studies, and for anyone interested in the debates surrounding world population growth.

Frank Furedi's claim that the social attitude of the West inadvertently invites acts of terrorism is an unsettling thought, but one that must be addressed in open discussion. Frank Furedi argues that Western culture appears to feed off a diet of terror and inadvertently offers its enemies an invitation to be terrorised. We have not developed an intellectual framework in which to be able to confront the fear of terrorism. The language we use betrays confusion about the threat we face and therefore undermines our capacity to engage with it. Beginning with the question of 'Why do they hate us?' we find ourselves unsure of who 'they' are.Even more unsettling is the realisation that we are not quite sure of who 'we' are. In this startling and original book Frank Furedi engages with some of the most fundamental questions confronting society today. We are in a global conflict that appears so confusing that we are not even certain what to call it. The failure to conceptualize the issues at stake is demonstrated by the absence of consensus around even what words to describe the meaning of the present conflict and enemy.Suddenly governments stop speaking about the War on Terror and talk about the Long War. The shift in terminology often betrays confusion about the issues at stake. Lack of clarity about what this war is about, who are the protagonists, its scope and duration dominates discussions on this conflict. Meaningless terms often represent an attempt to evade. In this case they express confusion and the inability to make sense of life in the twenty-first century.

The terms "left" and "right" pervade all our discussions of politics. But do they mean anything any more? And is it really satisfactory to reduce all our political debate to these two terms? Furedi shows how contemporary and recent developments, including the Cold War, the Culture Wars and Third Way-type managerialism, have created the need for a new conception of politics with an adequate conception of humanity - one that "remoralises" politics by taking humans seriously, recognises the centrality of morality and discussions of right and wrong, and utilises our imaginations. Furedi proposes a new, and inevitably controversial, humanist politics to escape the trap of 20th century political ideology.

The intellectual is an endangered species. In place of such people as Bertrand Russell, Raymond Williams or Hannah Arendt - people with genuine learning, breadth of vision and a concern for public issues - we now have only facile pundits, think tank apologists and spin-doctors. In the age of the knowledge economy, we have somehow managed to combine the widest ever participation in higher education with the most dumbed-down of cultures. In this urgent and passionate book, Frank Furedi explains the essential contribution of intellectuals both to culture and to democracy - and why we need to recreate a public sphere in which intellectuals and the general public can talk to each other again.

Fear has become an ever-expanding part of life in the West in the twenty-first century. We live in terror of disease, abuse, stranger danger, environmental devastation and terrorist onslaught. We are bombarded with reports of new concerns for our safety and that of our children, and urged to take greater precautions and seek more protection. But compared to the past, or to the developing world, people in contemporary Western societies have much less familiarity with pain, suffering, debilitating disease and death. We actually enjoy an unprecedented level of personal safety. When confronted with events like the destruction of the World Trade Centre, fear for the future is inevitable. But what happened on September 11th 2001 was in many ways an old fashioned act of terror, representing the destructive side of the human passions. Frank Furedi argues that the greater danger in our culture is the tendency to fear achievements representing a more constructive side of humanity. We panic about GM food, about genetic research, about the health dangers of mobile phones. The facts often fail to support the scare stories about new or growing risks to our health and safety.Our obsession with theoretical risks is in danger of distracting society from dealing with the old-fashioned dangers that have always threatened our lives. In this new edition, Furedi relates his own thinking on the sociology of fear to the thought of earlier thinkers such as Darwin and Fred and to the sociological tradition of Durkheim, C. Wright Mills, Anthony Giddens and others.

Aimed at students of African politics and political sociologists interested in rural revolution and revolt.Although Mau Mau was militarily crushed in the mid-fifties, the struggle for land rights was only contained in Kenya's post-independence era. Kikuyu squatters on European estates who formed the backbone of this movement are the main subject of this book.Furedi breaks new ground in following the story of the participants of the rural movement during the decade after the defeat of Mau Mau. New archival sources and interviews provide exciting material on the mechanics of decolonisation and on the containment of rural radicalism in Kenya.North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP

Concern with authority is as old as human history itself. Eve's sin was to challenge the authority of God by disobeying his rule. Frank Furedi explores how authority was contested in ancient Greece and given a powerful meaning in Imperial Rome. Debates about religious and secular authority dominated Europe through the Middle Ages and the Reformation. The modern world attempted to develop new foundations for authority - democratic consent, public opinion, science - yet Furedi shows that this problem has remained unresolved, arguing that today the authority of authority is questioned. This historical sociology of authority seeks to explain how the contemporary problems of mistrust and the loss of legitimacy of many institutions are informed by the previous attempts to solve the problem of authority. It argues that the key pioneers of the social sciences (Marx, Durkheim, Simmel, Tonnies and especially Weber) regarded this question as one of the principal challenges facing society.

Concern and hostility towards populism has become a distinctive feature of contemporary political culture. In Europe such concerns are frequently directed at Eurosceptics, whose opposition to the European Union is often portrayed as a cultural crime. Ancient anti-democratic claims about the gullibility, ignorance and irrationality of the masses are frequently recycled through the anti-populist condemnation of people who vote the wrong way.This book argues that the current outburst of anti-populist anxiety is symptomatic of a loss of faith in democracy and in the ability of the demos to assume the role of responsible citizens. Distrust of the people and of parliamentary sovereignty is reinforced by the concern that, on its own, liberal democracy lacks the normative foundation to inspire the loyalty and affection of ordinary citizens. Through focusing on the conflict between the European Union’s Commission and the Government of Hungary, this book explores contrasting attitudes towards national sovereignty, popular sovereignty and the question of tradition and the past as the main drivers of the culture war in Europe.

Concern and hostility towards populism has become a distinctive feature of contemporary political culture. In Europe such concerns are frequently directed at Eurosceptics, whose opposition to the European Union is often portrayed as a cultural crime. Ancient anti-democratic claims about the gullibility, ignorance and irrationality of the masses are frequently recycled through the anti-populist condemnation of people who vote the wrong way.This book argues that the current outburst of anti-populist anxiety is symptomatic of a loss of faith in democracy and in the ability of the demos to assume the role of responsible citizens. Distrust of the people and of parliamentary sovereignty is reinforced by the concern that, on its own, liberal democracy lacks the normative foundation to inspire the loyalty and affection of ordinary citizens. Through focusing on the conflict between the European Union’s Commission and the Government of Hungary, this book explores contrasting attitudes towards national sovereignty, popular sovereignty and the question of tradition and the past as the main drivers of the culture war in Europe.

The radical transformation that universities are undergoing today is no less far-reaching than the upheavals that it experienced in the 1960s. However today, when almost 50 per cent of young people participate in higher education, what occurs in universities matters directly to the whole of society.On both sides of the Atlantic curious and disturbing events on campuses has become a matter of concern not just for academics but also for the general public. What is one to make of the growing trend of banning speakers? What’s the meaning of trigger warnings, cultural appropriation, micro-aggression or safe spaces? And why are some students going around arguing that academic freedom is no big deal?What's Happened To The University? offers an answer to the questions of why campus culture is undergoing such a dramatic transformation and why the term moral quarantine refers to the infantilising project of insulating students from offence and a variety of moral harms.

Furedi turns his attention to the education system, skilfully analysing current processes and providing a way forward. Never has so much attention been devoted to education. Everyone - government ministers, social commentators and parents obsess about its problems. Yet we rarely ask why? Why is education a source of such concern? Why do many of the solutions proposed actually make matters worse? Tony Blair's 'education, education, education' slogan placed education at the forefront of political agendas. But, perhaps the 'policisation' of education is part of the problem. Today, education is valued for its potential contribution to economic development, but it is no longer considered important for itself. Increasingly, the promotion of education has little to do with the value of learning per se or with the importance of 'being taught about societies' achievements, so future generations have the intellectual ability to advance still further. Education has been emptied of its content. This book is a brilliant piece of analysis.It peers into the hollowness of the education debates and, drawing on thinkers from the ancient Greeks to modern critics, it sets out what we need from our schools.

A war is being waged against the Past. Whether it's toppling statues, decolonising the curriculum or erasing terms from our vocabulary, a cultural crusade is underway designed to render the past toxic. It is condemned as enemy territory and has become the target of venomous hate. What is at stake in provoking such a strong sense of societal shame towards Western history?In this book, Frank Furedi mounts a fierce defence of the past and calls for a fight back against the delegitimization of its ideals and accomplishments. Casting the past as a story of shame has become a taken-for granted outlook permeating the educational and cultural life of western society from the top down. Its advocates may see it as a cultural imperative, but society that loses touch with its past will face a permanent crisis of identity. Squandering the wisdom provided by our historical inheritance means betraying humanity's positive achievements. Challenging this great betrayal, Furedi argues, is one of the most important battles of our time.

A war is being waged against the Past. Whether it's toppling statues, decolonising the curriculum or erasing terms from our vocabulary, a cultural crusade is underway designed to render the past toxic. It is condemned as enemy territory and has become the target of venomous hate. What is at stake in provoking such a strong sense of societal shame towards Western history?In this book, Frank Furedi mounts a fierce defence of the past and calls for a fight back against the delegitimization of its ideals and accomplishments. Casting the past as a story of shame has become a taken-for granted outlook permeating the educational and cultural life of western society from the top down. Its advocates may see it as a cultural imperative, but society that loses touch with its past will face a permanent crisis of identity. Squandering the wisdom provided by our historical inheritance means betraying humanity's positive achievements. Challenging this great betrayal, Furedi argues, is one of the most important battles of our time.

Frank Furedi examines the frequent claim that democracy is a means to an end rather than an important value in and of itself. The prevalence of this sentiment in the current era is not surprising, given that the normative foundation for democracy is fragile, and there is little cultural valuation for this outlook. Until recently, virtually every serious commentator paid lip-service to democracy. However, in recent times the classical elitist disdain for democracy and for the moral and intellectual capacity of the electorate has acquired a powerful influence over public life. Democracy Under Siege outlines the long history of anti-democratic thought, explains why hostility to democracy has gained momentum in the current era, and offers a positive affirmation of the principle and the value of democracy.

The concept of Identity Crisis came into usage in the 1940s and it has continued to dominate the cultural zeitgeist ever since. In his exploration of the historical origins of this development, Frank Furedi argues that the principal driver of the ‘crisis of identity’ was and continues to be the conflict surrounding the socialisation of young people. In turn, the politicisation of this conflict provides a terrain on which the Culture Wars and the politicisation of identity can flourish. Through exploring the interaction between the problems of socialisation and identity, this study offers a unique account of the origins and rise of the Culture Wars.

The concept of Identity Crisis came into usage in the 1940s and it has continued to dominate the cultural zeitgeist ever since. In his exploration of the historical origins of this development, Frank Furedi argues that the principal driver of the ‘crisis of identity’ was and continues to be the conflict surrounding the socialisation of young people. In turn, the politicisation of this conflict provides a terrain on which the Culture Wars and the politicisation of identity can flourish. Through exploring the interaction between the problems of socialisation and identity, this study offers a unique account of the origins and rise of the Culture Wars.