On the persistence of fear in late capitalism: insights from modernisation theories and affect theories

Abstract

For decades, sociologists have characterised fear as the predominant emotion of late-capitalist societies. How can this be explained? Which determinants underlie the continuing relevance of fear? To answer this question, I draw on insights from modernisation theories and affect theories, which I see as complementing and extending each other. I argue that the former provide a ‘structural approach to fear’, focusing on fear-generating socioeconomic and cultural transformations, while the latter provide an ‘approach to fear’s affectivity’, focusing on the bodily and relational character of fear as well as its modulation by the current politics of fear. By combining these approaches, both the structural and affective dimensions of significant causes and effects of fear can be illuminated. This allows for the contouring of the late-capitalist ‘affect regime of fear’ using its structural and affective preconditions, which offers an expanded explanation for the persistence of fear in late-capitalist societies. Therefore, I will first introduce both approaches and outline their mutual extensions. Second, I will reconstruct and combine their insights regarding two significant fear-related phenomena, namely global risks and neoliberal lifestyles. Third, I will illustrate that these are preferentially processed through the affective politics of fear that reinforces politics of securitisation and politics of inequality. Finally, I will summarise the main features of the affect regime of fear and outline how the sociology of fear might benefit from bringing modernisation and affect theories’ approaches into dialogue.