1st Edition

American Fear The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety

By Peter N. Stearns Copyright 2007
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    Americans have become excessively fearful, and manipulation through fear has become a significant problem in American society, with real impact on policy. By using data from 9/11, this book makes a distinctive contribution to the exploration of recent fear, but also by developing a historical perspective, the book shows how and why distinctive American fears have emerged over the past several decades.

    Part 1: Establishing the Cause for Fear Excess  1. Introducing Fear  2. The Distinctiveness of American Fear  Part 2: Causes and Contexts  3. Searching for Causes  4. The Roots of American Fear: Traditions  5. From Science Fiction to Real Death: New Contexts for Fear  Part 3: The Decisive Changes: Redefining Fear and Risk in Life and in Media  6. Fearing Fear: A New Socialization  7. New Approaches to Risk: Lawyers and Bicycle Helmets  8. Self-Scaring and Advertising: The Commerce Factor  Part 4: The Exhaustion of War  9. At Your Own Risk  10. A Deluge of Crises: Foreign Fears in the Past Century  Part 5: Consequences and Remedies  11. Conclusion: The Lessons of American Fear

    Biography

    Peter N. Stearns

    Peter N. Stearns, the pioneering historian of emotions, has written a timely book that historicizes the 9/11 climate of fear in the United States. In American Fear, Stearns argues taht "we have come, as a nation, to fear excessively," and he seeks to explain why this is so.

    The Journal of American History