Research Catalog

Title

The culture of fear : why Americans are afraid of the wrong things / Barry Glassner.

Author

Glassner, Barry

Publication

New York : Basic Books, 2009.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxxvi, 322 p.; 21 cm.

Summary

In the age of 9/11, the War on Terror, financial collapse, and around-the-clock coverage of child abductions, our society is defined by fear. Glassner shows that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk, and he exposes the price we pay for social panic.

Subject

• Social perception > United States
• Social problems > United States
• Anxiety > United States
• Fear > United States
• Perception sociale > États-Unis
• Problèmes sociaux > États-Unis
• Angoisse > États-Unis
• Peur > États-Unis
• Sociale problemen
• Sociale waarneming
• Angst
• Sociologische aspecten
• Beïnvloeding
• United States > Social conditions

Note

• "Updated for our post 9/11 world"--Cover.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Dubious dangers on roadways and campuses: how fears are sold -- Crime in the news: tall tales and overstated statistics -- Youth at risk: faulty diagnoses and callous cures -- Monster moms: on the art of misdirection -- Black men: how to perpetuate prejudice without really trying -- "Smack is back": when presidents and the press collude, the scares never stop -- Metaphoric illnesses: how not to criticize the establishment -- Plane wrecks: small danger, big scare -- Final thoughts: the martians aren't coming -- New fears for a new century: and some old ones updated.

ISBN

• 9780465003365 (pbk.)
• 0465003362 (pbk.)

OCLC

440116122

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library