Terror, Terrorism, and 9/11: The Globalized Culture of Fear

Abstract

Globalizing a fear culture requires concerted ideological manipulation with local variations according to the value systems of different regions of the world and their associated cultural traditions. In the United States, the fear culture of the twenty-first century built on Red Scares and fears of crime. In other places, the traditions and therefore the ideological tactics would differ. Such ideological efforts face a challenge that comes from a contradiction within the world capitalist system. In the late twentieth century, as states gave up their welfare policies in favor of repressive force, they also found their role in maintaining social cohesion undermined by the same neoliberal economic policies the states themselves promoted.