Cosmologies of Fear: The Medicalization of Anxiety in Contemporary Britain (original) (raw)
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Fear and Anxiety in the 21st Century: The European Context and Beyond
This inter-disciplinary volume is centred upon the complex and ever-changing issues entailed by fears and anxieties in contemporary Europe and, thence, the whole world. Indeed, the fate of Europe mirrors the fate of the world itself: events are no longer localized, but, as soon as they have occurred, they have become part and parcel of our experience as a genuinely cosmopolitan species. Some of these fears and anxtieties are nurtured by real events, whilst others are rooted in imaginary phenomena. The experts who have contributed to this exciting work come from different fields of study (from history to economics and from anthropology to linguistics), yet what they have in common is a genuine commitment to the integrity of inter-disciplinary research, which teaches mutual respect and scientific curiosity.
A review of "Fear and Anxiety in the 21st Century: The European Context"
At first glance, the main concerns this collective volume is dealing with could be formulated by means of several inquiries, as such: are we trapped in a sphere dominated by anxiety? Are we constantly forced to look back or forward in order to get rid of the fear that seems to be an inherent factor of the contemporary world? Are we able to change something? – these are some of the essential questions brought into our attention by the book entitled Fear and Anxiety in the 21st Century, The European Context and Beyond. Additionally, it must be clearly stated that the essays included in this volume, rather than being separate units of writing, are a cohesive work depicting some of the major episodes that affected human beings, especially throughout the last century. Thus, by making use of an inter-disciplinary method, scholars coming from distinct fields of thought, such as economics, politics, anthropology or linguistics have managed to correlate their visions and embody a consistent work which shows that not only xenophobia, Islamophobia or Russophobia can alter the state and the relationship between various nations, thus provoking wars of thought or hostilities, but, very frequently, there is an innate tendency of individuals to generate a certain level of disquietude. All these factors maintain the fear and anxiety known as peculiar attributes of the 21st century.
From Fear to Anxiety: An Exploration into a New Socio-Political Temporality
Law and Critique, 2017
Modern political reality is increasingly permeated with testimonies and representations of social and personal anxieties. Most often these narratives are accompanied with a desire to identify and implement a 'cure' that will either heal or eradicate the source of discomfort. In the political everyday such a 'cure' is disguised as a policy or a new law. Thus it comes as a little surprise that the term anxiety is increasingly used by politicians, policy-makers, legal and medical experts as well as scholars to explain an allegedly new social phenomenon. Relying on psychoanalysis and critical theory the contributions in this special issue tackle modern anxieties in the realms of politics and law, and in particular look into how anxiety is manifested in relation to resistance, immigration, nationalism and austerity measures. This introduction firstly, unpacks the idea of anxiety conceptually and offers different ways in which anxiety can be read politically, legally as well as theoretically; and secondly introduces the arguments put forward in individual contributions. Keywords Anxiety Á Psychoanalysis Á Jacques Lacan Á Socio-political order Á Modernity Á Identity Modern political reality is increasingly permeated with testimonies and representations of social and personal anxieties. Most often these narratives are accompanied This special issue originates in the discussions we had at a workshop organised in the Politics department at the University of Manchester in 2015 by Andreja Zevnik and Aoileann Ni Mhurchu. Since then we had ongoing discussions on the role of anxiety in the modern socio-political sphere, which also drew in new contributors. The presented issue is a testimony to the discussions we have had.
The only thing we have to fear is the 'culture of fear' itself NEW ESSAY: How human thought and action are being stifled by a regime of uncertainty. Frank Furedi Fear plays a key role in twenty-first century consciousness. Increasingly, we seem to engage with various issues through a narrative of fear. You could see this trend emerging and taking hold in the last century, which was frequently described as an 'Age of Anxiety' (1). But in recent decades, it has become more and better defined, as specific fears have been cultivated. The rise of catchphrases such as the 'politics of fear', 'fear of crime' and 'fear of the future' is testimony to the cultural significance of fear today. Many of us seem to make sense of our experiences through the narrative of fear. Fear is not simply associated with high-profile catastrophic threats such as terrorist attacks, global warming, AIDS or a potential flu pandemic; rather, as many academics have pointed out, there are also the 'quiet fears' of everyday life. According to Phil Hubbard, in his 2003 essay 'Fear and loathing at the multiplex: everyday anxiety in the post-industrial city', ambient fear 'saturates the social spaces of everyday life' (2). Brian Massumi echoes this view with his concept of 'low-grade fear' (3). In recent years, questions about fear and anxiety have been raised in relation to a wide variety of issues: the ascendancy of risk consciousness (4), fear of the urban environment (5), fear of crime (6), fear of the Other (7), the amplification of fear through the media (8), fear as a distinct discourse (9), the impact of fear on law (10), the relationship between fear and politics (11), fear as a 'culture' (12), and the question of whether fear constitutes a 'distinctive cultural form' (13). Fear is often examined in relation to specific issues; it is rarely considered as a sociological problem in its own right. As Elemer Hankiss argues, the role of fear is 'much neglected in the social sciences'. He says that fear has received 'serious attention in philosophy, theology and psychiatry, less in anthropology and social psychology, and least of all in sociology' (14). This under-theorisation of fear can be seen in the ever-expanding literature on risk. Though sometimes used as a synonym for risk, fear is treated as an afterthought in today's risk literature; the focus tends to remain on risk theory rather than on an interrogation of fear itself. Indeed, in sociological debate fear seems to have become the invisible companion to debates about risk. And yet, it is widely acknowledged by risk theorists that fear and risk are closely related. As Deborah Lupton notes in her 1999 book Risk, risk 'has come to stand as one of the focal points of feelings of fear, anxiety and uncertainty' (15). Stanley Cohen makes a similar point in Folk Devils and Moral Panics, published in 2002, where he argues that 'reflections on risk are now absorbed into a wider culture of insecurity, victimization and fear' (16). A study of New Labour's economic policies argues that they are couched in the 'language of change, fear and risk' (17).
Care of the World Ch. 4: Risk Society: From Fear to Anxiety?
Chapter 4 observes the crisis of the Hobbesian model owing to the metamorphosis of fear, since the sources and characteristics of the danger have changed substantially and fear today has become uncertain and indefinite. This appears clear if we try to define fear: fear of who, of what? In the global age we can identify two fundamental sources of danger which both have an indefinite nature: on one hand, the other, who however loses the certainty that he has in the Hobbesian paradigm since he takes on the disturbing and indecipherable outlines of the foreigner, he who is different: or rather the ‘stranger within’ (Simmel), who cannot be either expelled or assimilated, and who, as a consequence, is the permanent source of anxiety and unease (fear of contamination); on the other, the so-called global risks, produced by the development of technology and human action (such as the nuclear threat and global warming), which are difficult to outline, at times invisible and fundamentally uncontrollable, and therefore the source of a sense of impotence and anxiety. Starting from the Freudian distinction between fear and anxiety, the hypothesis is suggested that global fear no longer has the productive function of early modernity (capable of promoting the preservation of life and social and political order), but it becomes unproductive, since it results in irrational and destructive responses. Indefiniteness of the danger; the other as different; global risks; Freud: fear and anxiety; global fear as unproductive fear
An anxious profession in an age of fear
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2006
An anxious profession in an age of fear This paper proposes that some practices and trends in mental health care may be considered as defensive responses to collective anxiety and fear. On a larger scale similar dynamics occur around fear of terrorism. Collectively and individually we are pulled by the defensive forces and dynamics associated with anxiety. This can in part explain the polarization that occurs around issues of definition and response to mental illness. Fear and anxiety push services towards simplistic viewpoints and futile practices. The capacity to view things from the perspective of others, embracing explanatory and therapeutic pluralism and adopting a humble attitude, may be helpful in enabling anxiety to be channelled productively.
Anxieties and Defences: Normal and Abnormal *
2015
This paper reflects on some issues that have emerged since Social Defences against Anxiety-Explorations in a Paradigm (Armstrong and Rustin, 2014) was published in 2014, and is a contribution to a continuing debate on these issues. Its starting point is an implicit contrast in the perspective taken by different contributors to the volume, in regard to the nature, significance, and function of anxiety as a social state of mind. This difference has both cultural and ideological dimensions. One perspective is broadly shaped by concerns for "social protection", embodied in the health, education, and welfare systems of the UK. Anxieties are believed to arise, in the context of responses to physical or mental ill-health, social deprivation, deviancy, or sexual disturbance, and also of breakdowns of relationships and organisations. It is the task of certain social institutions, networks, and professions to manage these. They are often found to do this badly, as in Isobel Menzies ...