Culture of Fear: Risk Taking and the Morality of Low Expectation is a book by the Hungarian sociologist Frank Furedi, published by Continuum International Publishing Group in 1997 (ISBN 030433751X). A revised edition was published by Continuum International Publishing Group in 2002 (ISBN 0826476163).

This book is not to be confused with The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things (1999), by the American sociologist Barry Glassner.

Contents

Original edition (1997)

Introduction: at risk?

1. A consciousness of risk
2. The worship of safety
3. Diminished humanity

Chapters

1. The explosion of risks
   1. Defining risk
   2. The inflation of danger
   3. The fear of side effects
   4. Hidden, invisible and always getting worse
2. Why do we panic?
   1. Technical explanations
   2. Risk as the product of knowledge
   3. Why do we panic?
      1. Change is often experienced as risk
      2. Concern about the future
      3. Impossibility of knowing
      4. A diminished humanity
      5. Reconciling limits
   4. The disposition to panic
   5. Diminished sense of control
3. The culture of abuse
   1. The normalisation of abuse
   2. The cycle of abuse
   3. Incompetent people
   4. The growth of the victim identity
4. A world of risky strangers
   1. A world of strangers
   2. Precautionary principle in childhood
   3. The most dangerous place in the world
5. Who can you trust?
   1. The question of expertise
   2. Breakdown of community
   3. When you can't trust yourself
6. The new etiquette
   1. The new etiquette
   2. The sociology of political correctness
   3. The moralist imperative
   4. The unexpected synthesis
7. Conclusions: accommodation to powerlessness
   • Building community around suffering

Revised edition (2002)

Introduction

1. A consciousness of risk
2. The worship of safety
3. The cultural war against the 'A' word
4. Diminished humanity

Chapters

1. The explosion of risks
   1. Defining risk
   2. The inflation of danger
   3. The fear of side effects
   4. Hidden, invisible and always getting worse
2. Why do we panic?
   1. Technical explanations
   2. Risk as the product of knowledge
   3. Why do we panic?
      1. Change is often experienced as risk
      2. Concern about the future
      3. Impossibility of knowing
      4. A diminished humanity
      5. Reconciling limits
   4. The disposition to panic
   5. Diminished sense of control
3. The culture of abuse
   1. The normalisation of abuse
   2. The cycle of abuse
   3. Incompetent people
   4. The growth of the victim identity
4. A world of risky strangers
   1. A world of strangers
   2. Precautionary principle in childhood
   3. The most dangerous place in the world
5. Who can you trust?
   1. The question of expertise
   2. Breakdown of community
   3. When you can't trust yourself
6. The new etiquette
   1. The new etiquette
   2. The sociology of political correctness
   3. The moralist imperative
   4. The unexpected synthesis
7. Conclusions: the politics of fear
   1. The politics of fear
   2. The new insiders
   3. Social disengagement
   4. The question of trust
   5. An oligarchical network
   6. The small issue of democracy

External links

• Frank Furedi

  Official website

• Continuum International Publishing Group

  Official website