Fear and institutions

Wrenn, Mary

Abstract

Fear allowed early humans to adapt, evolve, and survive. When humans moved into settled communities, with more advanced means of production, the nature of fear-much like the nature of social relationships-changed. Once the means of social reproduction were secured, fear became less necessary as a survival instinct, and more useful as a heuristic device. Fear cannot be characterized as an essentially socially constructed phenomenon, or as the self-contained, individualized response to internalized traumas. The growth and nature of fear must be studied as a process that develops under its own inertia and as a phenomenon that is both shaped by and shapes its institutional setting. Fear should be understood as both structurally determined and socially transformative. This research examines fear, specifically, as it relates to neoliberalism and institutions. © 2013, Journal of Economic Issues/Association for Evolutionary Economics.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Dec 23, 2014
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 21, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Economic Issues
• Print ISSN: 0021-3624
• Electronic ISSN: 1946-326X
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 383-390
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2753/JEI0021-3624470211
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/940875
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.2753/JEI0021-3624470211
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Economic Issues on 23rd December 2014, available online: https://doi.org/10.2753/JEI0021-3624470211.
• Contract Date: Mar 21, 2019