Frank Furedi

During the past 15 years Furedi’s studies have been devoted to an exploration of the cultural developments that influence the construction of contemporary risk consciousness. During the past decade his research has been oriented towards the way that risk and uncertainty is managed by contemporary culture. He has published widely about controversies relating to issues such as health, parenting children, food and new technology. His Invitation To Terror; Expanding the Empire of the Unknown (2007) explores the way in which the threat of terrorism has become amplified through the ascendancy of possibilistic thinking.  It develops the arguments contained in two previous books The Culture of Fear (2003) and Paranoid Parenting (2001). Both of these works investigate the interaction between risk consciousness and perceptions of fear, trust relations and social capital in contemporary society. At present he is working on a study of the cultural history of authority and public opinion. His book On Tolerance: In Defence of Moral Independence is published in September.


Furedi’s books and articles provide an authoritative yet lively account of key developments in contemporary cultural life. Using his insight as a professional sociologist, Furedi has produced a series of agenda-setting books that have been widely discussed in the media. Furedi regularly comments on radio and television. In the past year he has appeared on Newsnight, Sky and BBC News, The Today Programme, Moral Maze and a variety of other radio television shows. His has been interviewed by the media in Australia, Canada, the United States, Poland, Holland, Belgium, Brazil, and Germany and other countries.

A full list of publications that have carried his articles can be found on his official website.

Related Sessions
Tuesday 18 October 2011, 7.00pm Room 137, Lower Ground Floor, Institute for Art Theory and Media Studies, ELTE Muzeum krt. 6-8. Budapest, Hungary
Saturday 29 October 2011, 10.30am Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Sunday 30 October 2011, 6.30pm Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Sunday 30 October 2011, 10.45am Upper Gulbenkian Gallery
Thursday 3 November 2011, 7.00pm Galeria Domu Artysty Plastyka, ul. Mazowiecka 11A, 00-052 Warszawa, Poland

Publications

On Tolerance: The Life Style Wars: A Defence of Moral Independence (Continuum, 2011)
Wasted: Why Education is Not Educating (Continuum, 2009)
Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown (Continuum, 2007)
Where Have All the Intellectual Gone? Confronting 21st Century Philistinism (Continuum, 2005)

Capitalism What Is it Good For? - Phillip Blond

"In few places does the free exchange of views take place on so wide a range of issues as at the Battle of Ideas. Whatever the headlines of 2011 prove to be, the Battle of Ideas is where they will be most robustly debated."
Andrew Copson, chief executive, British Humanist Association

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