Heinz Bude

Heinz Bude (b 1954, Germany) is a sociologist and author with a background in philosophy and psychology.

He headed the Society of the Federal Republic of Germany, a research team at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research, from 1997 to 2015. Bude has been a professor in the department for macrosociology at the University of Kassel since 2000, and is the author of a number of books.

He has attracted much attention internationally for such works as The Society of Fear, where he depicts our society as characterised by fear – from the growth of terrorism to uncertainties related to economic crises and slumps. Bude exposes a society riven by uncertainty, suppressed rage and silent resentment, and describes how this fear derives not so much from a “powerful other”, but rather from the seemingly endless number of opportunities we face.