furedi :
first is a problem of definition and meaning (fear)
what can you talk about? not ‘war on terror’, definitely not ‘war on islam’ (maybe ‘political islam’ or ‘yihadism’) … even bush retracts from calling it ‘war on terror’, so… what is it they are fighting against? who is the “we” and “they”?
things we ‘don’t know’ are the most dangerous… ‘unknown unknowns’ … incalculable dimension of the threat … inevitable (fatalism)… in this sense terrorism is on the level of other ‘theological’ threats (global warming, etc.)
no contemporary dominant fear (no fear is strong enough to produce authentic solidarity... like unemployement in the great depression or god or whatever) … in the end fear becomes a divisive force … fear is personalized, individual hierarchies of fear (terrorism, crime, migration, carbohydrates, etc.) … today the threat is suicide bombers tomorrow portugese kidnappers of a 3-year-old british girls, the next day it’s faulty surgery, etc.
terror is detached from the actual act of terrorism (it is about the fear of terror)
xxist century notions of personhood is about vulnerability, not coping, not strength… we see ourselves as walking targets… passive experience of threats… this leads to ‘securitization of everyday life’ … (when enrolling their toddlers for preschool or kids in elementary, parent’s don’t ask about programs or faculty anymore, the first question is ‘will my kids be safe?’
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