Frank Furedi
Frank Furedi (born 1947, in Budapest, Hungary[1]) is professor of sociology at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. He is well known for his work on sociology of fear, therapy culture, paranoid parenting and sociology of knowledge.
A former student radical, he became involved in left wing politics in the 1970s and emerged as founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party. In the 1990s he was actively involved in humanist focused issues, especially campaigns for free speech.
Furedi is author of several books on risk, most recently Wasted: Why Education is not Educating (Continuum 2009) and Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown (Continuum 2007), an analysis of the impact of terrorism post 9/11. He is, according to research,[2] the most widely cited sociologist in the UK press.
He is the husband of Ann Furedi, the Chief Executive of British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UK's largest independent abortion provider.
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[edit] Biography
Furedi's family emigrated from Hungary to Canada after the failed 1956 uprising, and he did his Bachelor's degree at McGill University in Montreal. He has lived in Britain since 1969, and completed his M.A. (on African politics) and his Ph.D. (on the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya[1]) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University.[3]
In the 1970s, using the pseudonym Frank Richards, Furedi served as the co-founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). The RCP was distinguished by its commitment to theoretical elaboration and hostility to state intervention in social life.
Furedi is associated with the web journal Spiked Online. Furedi maintains that society and universities are undergoing a politically driven 'dumbing down' process which is manifest in society's growing inability to understand and assess the meaning of risk. The rise of the environmental and green movements parallels society's growing obsession with risk which has become a commodity that some organisations are using to further their objectives. Furedi also attacks the scientific consensus on Global Warming,[4] and has criticised the prominent role played by science in policy formation.[5]
Furedi's academic work was initially devoted to a study of imperialism and race relations. His books on the subject include The Mau-Mau War in Perspective, The New Ideology of Imperialism and The Silent War: Imperialism and the Changing Perception of Race. In recent years his work has been oriented towards exploring the sociology of risk.
Furedi frequently appears in the media, expressing his view that Western societies have become obsessed with risk. He writes regularly for Spiked Online. He has also written several books on the subject of risk, offering a counterpoint to the analyses of Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck, including Paranoid Parenting, Therapy Culture, and Culture of Fear.
He wrote an article about risk culture post-9/11, one of several publications from the charity Global Futures. In 2008 he criticised opponents of American vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on the Spiked website.[6] He claims: "It seems that even fervent advocates of women’s rights will adopt outdated and chauvinistic moral rhetoric when targeting a woman they do not like."
In 2008 he co-authored a book with Jennie Bristow published by the think tank Civitas titled Licensed to Hug: How Child Protection Policies Are Poisoning the Relationship Between the Generations and Damaging the Voluntary Sector,[7] arguing that the growth of police vetting (see Criminal Records Bureau) has created a sense of mistrust and advocating a more common-sense approach to adult/child relations, based on the assumption that the vast majority of adults can be relied on to help and support children, and that the healthy interaction between generations enriches children's lives.
Furedi is a supporter of the British Humanist Association.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Soviet Union Demystified: A Materialist Analysis, Junius Publications, 1986
- The Mau Mau War in Perspective, James Currey Publishers, 1989
- Mythical Past, Elusive Future: History and Society in an Anxious Age, Pluto Press, 1991
- The New Ideology of Imperialism: Renewing the Moral Imperative, Pluto Press, 1994
- Colonial Wars and the Politics of Third World Nationalism, IB Tauris, 1994
- Culture of Fear: Risk Taking and the Morality of Low Expectation, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1997
- Population and Development: A Critical Introduction, Palgrave Macmillan, 1997
- The Silent War: Imperialism and the Changing Perception of Race, Pluto Press, 1998
- Courting Mistrust: The Hidden Growth of a Culture of Litigation in Britain, Centre for Policy Studies, 1999
- Paranoid Parenting: Abandon Your Anxieties and Be a Good Parent, Allen Lane, 2001
- Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age, Routledge, 2003
- Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone?: Confronting Twenty-First Century Philistinism, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004
- The Politics of Fear. Beyond Left and Right, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005
- Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007
- Wasted: Why Education Isn't Educating, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2009
[edit] References
- ^ a b Jenny Turner "Who Are They?" London Review of Books, p.3-8, 5
- ^ Sociological Research Online
- ^ Curriculum Vitae, University of Kent website
- ^ In 2008, let us challenge the Politics of Apocalypse | spiked
- ^ The tyranny of science | spiked
- ^ Frank Furedi "Turning Sarah Palin into a twenty-first century witch", Spiked-Online, 8 September 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-903386-70-5
[edit] External links
- Frank Furedi Official Website
- Interview: The Sum of Our Fears
- Life after Living Marxism: Banning the bans, David Pallister, John Vidal and Kevin Maguire, Guardian
- Invasion of the Entryists, George Monbiot, Guardian
- Video Interview, Subversive Film Festival
