Cultures of Fear: A Critical Reader

This collection of essays explores the formation and normalisation of fear in the context of war and terrorism.

Freedom from fear is a universal right and fundamental for human well-being. People often look to governments, humanitarian agencies, and other institutions to further this aim. However, this book shows that these organisations often use the same logic of fear to monitor, control, and contain human beings in zones of violence.

This is an excellent interdisciplinary reader for students of anthropology, sociology and politics. Contributors include Noam Chomsky, Slavoj Zizek, Jean Baudrillard, Catharine MacKinnon, Neil Smith, Cynthia Enloe, David L. Altheide, Cynthia Cockburn and Carolyn Nordstrum.