The Culture of Fear

by Glassner, Barry

• ISBN13: 9780465014903
• ISBN10: 0465014909
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-15
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

There has never been another era in modern history, even during wartime or the Great Depression, when so many people have feared so much. Three out of four Americans say they feel more fearful today then they did twenty years ago.The Culture of Feardescribes the high costs of living in a fear-ridden environment where realism has become rarer than doors without deadbolts.Why do we have so many fears these days? Are we living in exceptionally dangerous times? To watch the news, you'd certainly think so, but Glassner demonstrates that it is ourperceptionof danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk.The Culture of Fearis an expose of the people and organizations that manipulate our perceptions and profit from our fears: politicians who win elections by heightening concerns about crime and drug use even as rates for both are declining; advocacy groups that raise money by exaggerating the prevalence of particular diseases; TV newsmagazines that monger a new scare every week to garner ratings.Glassner spells out the prices we pay for social panics: the huge sums of money that go to waste on unnecessary programs and products as well as time and energy spent worrying about our fears.

Author Biography

Barry Glassner is Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California. He is the author of seven books, including Career Crash and Bodies. He has been quoted extensively or profiled in articles in dozens of newspapers and magazines. His own articles and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and The London Review of Books.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: Why Americans Fear the Wrong Things	xi
Dubious Dangers on Roadways and Campuses
How Fears Are Sold	1	(20)
Crime in the News
Tall Tales and Overstated Statistics	21	(30)
Youth at Risk
Faulty Diagnoses and Callous Cures	51	(34)
Monster Moms
On the Art of Misdirection	85	(22)
Black Men
How to Perpetuate Prejudice Without Really Trying	107	(22)
``Smack Is Back''
When Presidents and the Press Collude, the Scares Never Stop	129	(22)
Metaphoric Illnesses
How Not to Criticize the Establishment	151	(30)
Plane Wrecks
Small Danger, Big Scare	181	(22)
Final Thoughts
The Martians Aren't Coming	203	(8)
Notes	211	(48)
Index	259