Invitation to Terror

Virtually everyone agrees that terrorism is defined by its impact on the public it targets. Yet there seems to be very little open discussion about how society ... » 

Virtually everyone agrees that terrorism is defined by its impact on the public it targets. Yet there seems to be very little open discussion about how society has responded to it and how people are affected by it. This is no small gap in our understanding of 21st century terrorism. Invitation to Terror argues that what we need to really worry about is not what terrorists do but how we react to it, citing as an example politicians who claim that our way of life is facing an existential threat but find it difficult to explain just what exactly the way of life worth defending is. Western society in its current state of affairs, Furedi posits, simply lacks the necessary cultural and intellectual resources to deal with the threat of terrorism. Invitation to Terror details how as society becomes increasingly apprehensive about the future it has reached the point where it regards itself as a vulnerable target. This defensive response is influenced by many causes, the most important of which is the difficult society has in endowing conflict with meaning. The words used to describe the threat of terrorism -- unimaginable, incomprehensible, unbelievable -- serve to deflect our understanding of the issues at stake. Furedi argues that the problem is not them and does not come from there. It is our problem, and it comes from within. But Furedi's message is ultimately a positive one: it is not difficult to diminish the impact of the threat of terrorism through changing the way we engage with it. Invitation to Terror will help you get started. «