Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown

ISBN-13: 9780826424549 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 240 str.

Frank Furedi

Opis

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.

Recenzje

"Invitation to Terror has a relevence to policy makers far outside of the security arena" Tribune

Spis treści

Preface - Why Do They Hate Us?
Beyond Comprehension
Perception of the Threat
New Terrorism - a Self-fulfilling Prophecy
The Expanding Empire of Unknown Dangers
A Threat Beyond Meaning
Enduring Vulnerability
Perceptions of Terror and a Clash of Cultural Attitudes Towards Risk
So What is the Problem of Terrorism?
Refusing to be Terrorized

O autorze

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, UK. He is the author of fourteen books including Why Education isn't Educating (2010), The Politics of Fear (2007), Where have all the Intellectuals Gone? (2005), Therapy Culture (2003) and Paranoid Parenting (2001). Furedi's books offer an authoritative yet lively account of key developments in contemporary cultural life, with a particular interest in precautionary culture and risk aversion in the West. He is the UK sociologist most widely cited by the UK media and his books have been translated into eleven languages. He appears frequently on television and radio in the English speaking world and beyond and he publishes regular articles with a range of newspapers.Frank Furedi fled to England in 1956 from Hungary. He was appointed Professor of Social Studies at the University of Kent but celebrated also as a pundit and public intellectual throughout the English speaking world. His most celebrated books include Paranoid Parenting (reissued by Continuum) The Culture of Fear and Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone. His books are widely reviewed and he is on the lecture circuit from Chatham House to Adelaide.Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is the author of numerous books including Culture of Fear, Invitation to Terror and Paranoid Parenting, all published by Continuum.