Frank Füredi

Frank Furedi, London, 16 July 2007

Frank Furedi (originally called Ferenc Füredi, Dob 3 May 1947) is professor of sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. He was, under the pseudonym Frank Richards, a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Group, then, having been expelled from the RCG, the founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Tendency, later the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). The RCP has traversed one of the longest ideological journeys in British politics, moving from the what it described as 'ultra-left', through several incarnations into a broad collection of organisations on the libertarian right wing, including Spiked Online and the Institute of Ideas. Furedi continues to be a leading figure in this network of organisations, characterised by a vigorous anti-environmentalist, pro-GM stance, known as the LM network.

Aside from his academic work, he is frequently quoted in the media as an expert on how our society has become obsessed with risk. He writes regularly for Spiked Online, and has written several books on the subject, with titles such as Paranoid Parenting, Therapy Culture, and Culture of Fear. He wrote an article about risk culture post September 11, one of only two papers published by Global Futures.

Furedi has also written under the name of Frank Richards. He was born in Hungary in 1948. His family emigrated to Canada after the Soviets crushed the 1956 uprising and has lived in Britain since the 1970s.

Publications By Furedi

See main article: Frank Furedi: List of Publications

Furedi writing for the Thatrcherite Centre for Policy Studies. Apparently no contradiction for a former Marxist or a contemporary liberal humanist

Affiliations

• Manifesto Club | Living Marxism | LM group | Revolutionary Communist Tendency | Revolutionary Communist Party | Civitas has written for them including after receipt of funding from the Nigel Lord Vinson Charitable Trust | Centre for Policy Studies - has written for them |

Company directorships

• Spiked - Director from 5 September 2000 and Shareholder | Twymans Mill Management Company Limited Appointed 19 May 2003, company dissolved 31 August 2004 | Open Dialogue, Appointed 19 February 1998, Resigned 7 February 2003 | Inter-Generation Appointed 22 April 2008 |

Resources

Contact Details

Website: www.frankfuredi.com

Biographical Notes

• University of Kent staff profile for Frank Furedi

Interview With Furedi

• Michael Duffy interviews Frank Furedi, "Paranoid Parenting", Counterpoint, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 21, 2005.

General Articles

• George Monbiot, "Far Left or Far Right?", Prospect Magazine, November 1998.
• Living Marxism profile, GM Watch, accessed Dec 2003.
• David Pallister, John Vidal and Kevin Maguire, "Life after Living Marxism: Banning the bans", The Guardian, July 8, 2000.
• George Monbiot, "Invasion of the Entryists", The Guardian, December 9, 2003.
• ReadySteadyBook.com, Frank Furedi interview, accessed 25 October 2004
• Maureen Freely and Martin Bright, Review of "Paranoid Parenting", The Observer, 11 March 2001.
• Andy Rowell, "LobbyWatch: SMC complaint", April 2007. (This is an edited version of a submission made by Andy Rowell to the board of the Science Media Centre).
• "Interview with Monbiot on the LM group", Lobbywatch, April 11, 2007. (This interview was undertaken some time earlier than the publication date).
• Brendan O'Neill, "'Humanising politics – that is my only agenda'", Spiked Online, April 25, 2007.