Terrorism

What is the relationship in the contemporary world between the abstract global `peace’ of state-initiated violence from above and the embodied violence of persons hacking into others with machetes as they lay on the ground? Can this be explained simply in terms of the difference between the rationalising modern nation-state and resurgent tribalism? This article explores the contradictions associated with peace and violence in a globalising- localising world, both generally and in relation to violence in Rwanda and Bosnia-Kosovo. The article is intended predominantly as a political essay opening up lines of understanding. It argues that the postmodernists’ hopes that postnationalism will offer a way out of the mess is thoroughly misplaced. This is particularly so given that those states that swept militarily into Kosovo from above now project themselves across the globe with the same new enthusiasm for pax postnationalism as the postmodernists themselves.

The post-Cold War years were a period of substantial change in the importance of certain international norms at the state-level, namely, human rights norms, international humanitarian law, self-determination, and more recently, the norm against terrorism. Looking beyond the state level, this paper examines whether non-state actors, such as rebel groups, have also been affected by the sea change of norms at the international level. In a comparison of the use of international norms in the discourse of two groups, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), this paper examines the use of these norms in their discourse and considers why such groups might reflect the changes in the international arena and the importance the adoption norms might have to the legitimacy of these actors on the world state. 

"Written by  Rasmus Ugilt, Aarhus University, Denmark. This groundbreaking study aims to provide a philosophical analysis of the phenomenon of terror, in particular the political reactions to it, such as public anxiety and pre-emptive wars, and to re-articulate the understanding of metaphysics through a consideration of its political implications.

The book reveals that the key feature of terror is "potentiality," that is, terror is always about "what could happen" as opposed to "what is likely to happen." This notion helps broaden the scope of the investigation, as the argument spans the ontology, political psychology, political cosmology, and political theology of terror. Each chapter begins with an empirical discussion, examining such topics as the political practices in reaction to terror, the politics of fear, warfare, sovereignty, and the debates about the state of exception in relations to anti-terrorism laws.

This unique examination of our political reality uncovers the axiom of terrorism, namely its "potentiality." Going beyond the scope of terrorism studies, it explains the philosophical underpinnings of terror without compromising on the empirical facts drawn from policymaking, jurisprudence and related fields."

"Edited by Max Taylor and P.M. Currie, University of St Andrews, Scotland. In this groundbreaking work, leading scholars and experts set out to explore the utility of the concept of affordance in the study and understanding of terrorism and political violence.

Affordance is a concept used in a variety of fields, from psychology to artificial intelligence, which refers to how the quality of an environment or object allows an individual to perform a specific action. This concept can represent an important element in the process of choice involved in behavior, and is closely related to situational analyses of criminal behavior. In this book, the contributors set out to explore how this concept can be used to study terrorism and, as a result, develop management strategies. Essays discuss such topics as affordance in relation to counterterrorism, technology, cyber-jihad, ideology, and political ecologies.

By importing the concept of affordance and a new set of research to the study of terrorism, the authors offer an innovative and original work that challenges and adds to various aspects of situational crime prevention and counterterrorism."

""Zouhair El Hairan, a Tetuan native, returns to this city, surprised by the supposed involvement of other young men from Tetuan in the 11M bombings, some of them killed in the explosion in Leganés. There he talks to different people about what happened and brings new reflections on the connection between the bombings and Islam."

"Al-Hamama”, recorded in Morocco, is a documentary shown in Gijon International Film Festival, Tarifa African Film Festival, Catalan/Spanish Television, etc.  http://www.fcat.es/FCAT/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=338&Itemid=37 "

Competing discourses are involved in a meta-conflict over the meaning of the Boko Haram uprising in northern Nigeria in July 2009. These discourses are characterised by different conceptions of the state. This study analyses the struggle over the meaning of the uprising, using the theoretical framework of ‘meta-conflict’ set out by Horowitz and Brass, and a discourse analysis methodology based on the work of Foucault, and Lakoff and Johnson. An analysis of media reports in the five weeks following the uprising reveals that embedded within reports on Boko Haram there are four competing conceptions of the state. The Socio-Economic discourse argues for the state as the provider of development, whereas the Political Agency discourse posits the state as the provider of order. The Religious Structural discourse emphasises the state’s secular role in containing expansionist Islam, and the Religious Agency discourse calls on the state to help mainstream Islam maintain control over deviant sects.