Frank Furedi Bücher

Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich dieses Buch mehr als Soziologe oder als Vater eines fünfjährigen Sohnes geschrieben habe. Meine akademische Ausbildung hat mich nicht auf die Welt der elterlichen Ängste vorbereitet, die viele Väter und Mütter plagt. Schon bei der Geburt meines Sohnes Jacob wurde mir bewusst, dass das Leben gefährlich ist und von Anfang an erhebliche Risiken birgt. Im Krankenhaus wurden wir über Maßnahmen zur Verhinderung von Kindesentführungen informiert, und besorgte Freunde fragten, ob wir die neuesten Ratschläge zur Verhütung des plötzlichen Kindstods kannten. Verwandte diskutierten die Risiken verschiedener Betreuungsformen und wogen die Gefahren von Kindermädchen gegen die von Kindertagesstätten ab. Besonders deutlich wurde uns das Ausmaß der Eltern-Paranoia, als meine Mutter erklärte, sie könne sich keine Fernsehsendungen über Babys mehr ansehen, da sie in Angst versetzt wurde. Eltern wird vermittelt, dass jeder feste Ansichten über die Herausforderungen der Kindererziehung hat. Politiker und Experten bombardieren uns mit Ratschlägen und Handbüchern, die angeblich notwendiges Wissen vermitteln. Paradoxerweise scheinen gerade die Eltern die einzigen zu sein, die nicht wissen, was das Beste für ihr Kind ist. Dies führt zu einem Mangel an Selbstbewusstsein und einem hohen Maß an Ängstlichkeit im Umgang mit Kindern.

Eine klarsichtige Analyse von Elternschaft heute, die mit verbreiteten Selbstzweifeln garantiert aufräumt. Seit der britische Soziologe Frank Furedi selbst Vater geworden ist, hat er die unter Müttern und Vätern grassierende Orientierungslosigkeit, ihre Selbstzweifel und Schuldgefühle hautnah erlebt – und sich nicht anstecken lassen. In seinem frischen und klarsichtigen Buch entwirft er ein Panorama von Elternschaft heute: Eltern sind relativ allein gelassen, da das »ganze Dorf« als Miterzieher längst nicht mehr existiert. Stattdessen wartet eine Vielzahl von Experten in allen Medien mit einer Fülle von Informationen, Ratschlägen und Rezepten auf, unüberschaubar, verwirrend und oft widersprüchlich. Gerne wird dabei auch der Mythos vom »verwundbaren Kind« bemüht und das Aufwachsen als eine gefahrvolle und komplizierte Angelegenheit betrachtet. Dies alles erzeugt ein allgemeines Klima der Verunsicherung und vermehrt bei Eltern den Glauben an die eigene Inkompetenz. Ein Irrglaube, wie Frank Furedi meint. Er kennt und verrät auch einige wirksame Gegenmittel: gesunder Menschenverstand, Urteilsfähigkeit, Selbstvertrauen und Mut zur eigenen Autorität.

Draws attention to the education system. This book peers into the hollowness of the education debates and, drawing on thinkers from the ancient Greeks to modern critics, it sets out what we need from our schools.

The concept of Identity Crisis came into usage in the 1940s and it has continued to dominate the cultural zeitgeist ever since. In his exploration of the historical origins of this development, Frank Furedi argues that the principal driver of the 'crisis of identity' was and continues to be the conflict surrounding the socialisation of young people. In turn, the politicisation of this conflict provides a terrain on which the Culture Wars and the politicisation of identity can flourish. Through exploring the interaction between the problems of socialisation and identity, this study offers a unique account of the origins and rise of the Culture Wars.

Paranoid Parenting is an important book that shows how parental fears have been stoked and families harmed as a consequence. It ought to be read by every sensible individual interested in regaining a sane viewpoint that advances children's well-being. It seems that every day there is a warning about your children: everything from cots, babysitters, schools, supermarkets and public parks pose a danger. We are told that children's health, safety and welfare and constantly at risk. Based on sociological research as well as dozens of interviews, this book will bolster your confidence in your own judgements and enable you to bring up self-assured, imaginative, capable children. If you want to understand why adults act like children and children act like adults -- in short, if you want to understand why raising children today is harder than ever before -- read this book.

Power of Reading is a natural companion to Christopher Booker's bestselling The Seven Basic Plots (Continuum) and John Gross's seminal study The Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters (Weidenfeld and Nicolson). Eminent cultural and social historian Frank Furedi presents here an eclectic and entirely original history of reading. The very act of reading and the choice of reading material endow individuals with an identity that possesses great symbolic significance. Already in ancient Rome, Cicero was busy drawing up a hierarchy of different types of readers. Since that time people have been divided into a variety of categories - literates and illiterates, intensive and extensive readers, or vulgo and discreet readers. In the 19th Century, accomplished readers were praised as 'men of letters' while their moral opposites were described as 'unlettered'. Today distinctions are made between cultural and instrumental readers and scorn is communicated towards the infamous 'tabloid reader'. The purpose of this book is to explore the changing meanings attributed to the act of reading. Although it has an historical perspective, the book's focus is very much on the culture of reading that prevails in the 21st Century. There are numerous texts on the history of literacy (Hoggart), yet there is no publication devoted to the history of readers and their relationship with wider culture and society. It is thus a fascinating insight into understanding the post-Gutenberg debates about literacy in a multimedia environment with such a strong emphasis on the absorption of information. Taking a cue from George Steiner, Furedi argues vigorously for the restoration of the art of reading - every bit as important as the art of writing

Challenging the claim that democracy is a means to an end rather than an important value in and of itself.

The epidemic of scandals unleashed by the Savile Scandal highlights the precarious status of relations of trust. The rapid escalation of this crisis offers insights into the relationship between anxieties about childhood and the wider moral order. This book explains why western society has become so uncomfortable with the exercise of authority.

"Western society has become estranged from the borders and social boundaries that have for centuries given meaning to human experience. This book argues that the controversy surrounding mass migration and physical borders runs in parallel and is closely connected to the debates surrounding the symbolic boundaries people need to guide on the issues of everyday life. Numerous commentators claim that borders have become irrelevant in the age of mass migration and globalisation. Some go so far as to argue for 'No Borders'. And it is not merely the boundaries that divide nations that are under attack! The traditional boundaries that separate adults from children, or men from women, or humans from animals, or citizens and non-citizens, or the private from the public sphere are often condemned as arbitrary, unnatural, and even unjust. Paradoxically, the attempt to alter or abolish conventional boundaries coexists with the imperative of constructing new ones. No-Border campaigners call for safe spaces. Opponents of cultural appropriation demand the policing of language and advocates of identity politics are busy building boundaries to keep out would-be encroachers on their identity. Furedi argues that the key driver of the confusion surrounding borders and boundaries is the difficulty that society has in endowing experience with meaning. The most striking symptom of this trend is the cultural devaluation of the act of judgment, which has led to a loss of clarity about the moral boundaries in everyday life. The infantilisation of adults that runs in tandem with the adultification of children offers a striking example of the consequence of non-judgmentalism. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in cultural sociology, sociology of knowledge, philosophy, political theory, and cultural studies"--Page 4 of cover

Explains two interrelated themes: why has fear acquired such a morally commanding status in society today and how has the way we fear today changed from the way that it was experienced in the past? The author argues that one of the main drivers of the culture of fear is unravelling of moral authority. Fear appears to provide a provisional solution to moral uncertainty and is for that reason embraced by a variety of interests, parties and individuals. He predicts that until society finds a more positive orientation towards uncertainty the politicization of fear will flourish