Manufacturing Phobias: The Political Production of Fear in Theory and Practice - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442628847 ISBN 13: 9781442628847

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2016

Synopsis

Fear is a powerful emotion and a formidable spur to action, a source of worry and – when it is manipulated – a source of injustice. Manufacturing Phobias demonstrates how economic and political elites mobilize fears of terrorism, crime, migration, invasion, and infection to twist political and social policy and advance their own agendas.

The contributors to the collection, experts in criminology, law, sociology, and politics, explain how and why social phobias are created by pundits, politicians, and the media, and how they target the most vulnerable in our society. Emphasizing how social phobias reflect the interests of those with political, economic, and cultural power, this work challenges the idea that society’s anxieties are merely expressions of individual psychology. Manufacturing Phobias will be a clarion call for anyone concerned about the disturbing consequences of our culture of fear.

About this title

About the Author:

Hisham Ramadan is a professor in the Department of Criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Jeff Shantz is a professor in the Department of Criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Review:

"Manufacturing Phobias offers a creative take on the politics of fear in the early twenty-first century. What distinguishes this collection is the range of issues covered, including Islamophobia, crime, popular culture, and migrants’ rights, and its geographic breadth."

(Alan Sears, Department of Sociology, Ryerson University)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1442628847
• ISBN 13: 9781442628847
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328
• Editor: Ramadan Hisham, Shantz Jeff