This interdisciplinary book investigates the consequences of the language of terror for our lives in democratic societies. The approach of this book is in direct contrast with those that either view terrorism simplistically, as a clear reality threatening democratic society and thus requiring certain sorts of response, or argue, equally simplistically, that the invocation of terror is merely the ideological veil for continued capitalist exploitation. While closer in spirit to the second of these, this work does not simply dismiss the discourse on terror, but rather investigates the consequences of this discourse for the organisation of life in democratic societies. In interrogating the discourse of terror from a variety of viewpoints, this interdisciplinary text builds upon the understanding of the importance of the language of terror from a new perspective: the interconnections between discourses of terror; the material realities they at once reflect and help produce; and the specificities of particular historical circumstances. In offering an integrated approach of this sort, and founded on a base of applied philosophy, broadly conceived, the contributors offer a new contribution to both public and academic debate, and at the same time initiate a series of further interventions in Critical Terrorism Studies. This book will be of interest to students of critical terrorism studies, terrorism studies, security studies, philosophy and discourse theory. Bob Brecher is Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics & Ethics at Brighton University. He has published widely in moral, political and applied philosophy and the politics of higher education. Mark Devenney is Academic Programme Leader in Humanities at the University of Brighton. He has published in the areas of critical theory, post-Marxism and post-Colonial politics. Aaron Winter is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Abertay Dundee. His research focuses on terrorism and the concept of ‘extremism’, whiteness, masculinity and violence, and the extreme right, organised racism and the religious right in the United States.

This book shows how to use a range of critical approaches to conduct research on terrorism. Featuring the work of researchers who have already utilized these methods to study terrorism, it includes a diverse range of critical methodological approaches – including discourse analysis, feminist, postcolonial, ethnographic, critical theory, and visual analysis of terrorism. The main objectives of the book are to assist researchers in adopting and applying various critical approaches to the study of terrorism. This goal is achieved by bringing together a number of different scholars working on the topic of terrorism from a range of non-variables-based approaches. Their individual chapters discuss explicitly the research methods used and methodological commitments made by the authors, while also illustrating the application of their particular critical perspective to the topic of terrorism. The authors of each chapter will discuss (1) why they chose their specific critical method; (2) how they justified their methodological stance; (3) how they conduct their research; (4) and, finally, an example of the research. This book will be essential reading for students of terrorism studies and critical terrorism studies, and highly recommended for students of political violence, security studies and IR.

This unique, historical study explores how states have articulated statements about terrorism since the 1930s and what effect these discourses have had on global politics. Ditrych's analysis challenges established understandings of terrorism, providing a new conceptualization of how terrorism discourse emerged historically.

Discourse since September 11, 2001 has constrained and shaped public discussion and debate surrounding terrorism worldwide. Social actors in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere employ the language of the “war on terror” to explain, react to, justify and understand a broad range of political, economic and social phenomena. Discourse, War and Terrorism explores the discursive production of identities, the shaping of ideologies, and the formation of collective understandings in response to 9/11 in the United States and around the world. At issue are how enemies are defined and identified, how political leaders and citizens react, and how members of societies understand their position in the world in relation to terrorism. Contributors to this volume represent diverse sub-fields involved in the critical study of language, including perspectives from sociocultural linguistics, communication, media, cultural and political studies.

A frequent assumption of the American-led ‘war on terror’ and its accompanying discourse originated largely with the George W. Bush Administration, and that there was a counterterrorism policy revolution in the U.S. political arena. Challenging these assumptions, through a genealogical analysis of U.S. terrorism and counterterrorism discourses, this book demonstrates a distinct continuity (and lack of change) of U.S. counterterrorism policy, from Ronald Reagan, to Bill Clinton, and through to George W. Bush. The book focuses on President Clinton’s discursive construction of ‘new terrorism’, or ‘catastrophic terrorism’, and the counterterrorism practices implemented by the Clinton Administration, while simultaneously comparing it with President Reagan’s and President George W. Bush’s approaches to counterterrorism. It shows how the war on terror can be traced to earlier periods, and that the so-called Bush revolution was largely built upon the existing framework established by President Reagan and President Clinton. Prior to the 2001 terrorist attacks, Clinton had expanded Reagan’s first ‘war on terrorism’ discourse and constructed the ‘new terrorism’ discourse, characterised by the notions of borderless threats, ‘home-grown’ terrorism, WMD-terrorism, cyberterrorism, and rogue states. Clinton’s ‘new terrorism’ discourse provided a useful framework for George W. Bush to discursively respond to the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Aiming to uncover the myth of President George W. Bush’s foreign policy revolution and contribute to a deeper historical understanding of the U.S.-led war on terror, it will be of great use to postgraduates and scholars of US foreign policy, security studies and terrorism studies.

This book is an introduction to critical approaches to terrorism studies. While there is a growing body of Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) literature devoted to empirical examples and conceptual development, very little has been written about how to systematically carry out this kind of research. Critical Terrorism Studies fills this gap by addressing three key themes: The position of terrorism studies and critical terrorism studies in the discipline of International Relations (IR) Theoretical and methodological elaborations of critical approaches to the study of terrorism Empirical illustrations of those approaches. Drawing upon a range of engaging material, the volume reviews a series of non-variable based methodological approaches. It then goes on to provide empirical examples that illustrate how these approaches have been and can be utilized by students, teachers, and postgraduate researchers alike to critically and rigorously study terrorism. This textbook will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, sociology, critical security studies, and IR in general.

This study investigates the overlaps between political discourse and literary and cinematic fiction, arguing that both are informed by, and contribute to, the cultural imaginary of terrorism. Whenever mass-mediated acts of terrorism occur, they tend to trigger a proliferation of threat scenarios not only in the realm of literature and film but also in the statements of policymakers, security experts, and journalists. In the process, the discursive boundary between the factual and the speculative can become difficult to discern. To elucidate this phenomenon, this book proposes that terror is a halfway house between the real and the imaginary. For what characterizes terrorism is less the single act of violence than it is the fact that this act is perceived to be the beginning, or part, of a potential series, and that further acts are expected to occur. As turn-of-the-century writers such as Stevenson and Conrad were the first to point out, this gives terror a fantastical dimension, a fact reinforced by the clandestine nature of both terrorist and counter-terrorist operations. Supported by contextual readings of selected texts and films from The Dynamiter and The Secret Agent through late-Victorian science fiction to post-9/11 novels and cinema, this study explores the complex interplay between actual incidents of political violence, the surrounding discourse, and fictional engagement with the issue to show how terrorism becomes an object of fantasy. Drawing on research from a variety of disciplines, The Cultural Imaginary of Terrorism will be a valuable resource for those with interests in the areas of Literature and Film, Terrorism Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Trauma Studies, and Cultural Studies.

This new handbook is a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge essays that investigate the contribution of Critical Terrorism Studies to our understanding of contemporary terrorism and counterterrorism. Terrorism remains one of the most important security and political issues of our time. After 9/11, Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) emerged as an alternative approach to the mainstream study of terrorism and counterterrorism, one which combined innovative methods with a searching critique of the abuses of the war on terror. This volume explores the unique contribution of CTS to our understanding of contemporary non-state violence and the state’s response to it. It draws together contributions from key thinkers in the field who explore critical questions around the nature and study of terrorism, the causes of terrorism, state terrorism, responses to terrorism, the war on terror, and emerging issues in terrorism research. Covering a wide range of topics including key debates in the field and emerging issues, the Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies will set a benchmark for future research on terrorism and the response to it. This handbook will be of great interest to students of terrorism studies, political violence, critical security studies and IR in general.

Leading scholars in discourse analysis and European foreign policy join forces in this book, marking a real breakthrough in the literature. Not only do they offer original perspectives on European foreign policy, but they bring together various theories on foreign policy discourses that remain too often isolated from each other. This theoretical diversity is clearly reflected in the book’s four-pronged structure: Part I - Post-structuralist Approaches (with contributions from Thomas Diez, Henrik Larsen and Beste Isleyen); Part II - Constructivist Approaches (with contributions from Knud Erik Jørgensen, Jan Orbie, Ferdi de Ville, Esther Barbé , Anna Herranz-Surrallés and Michal Natorski); Part III - Critical Discourse Analytical Approaches (with contributions from Senem Aydin-Düzgit, Amelie Kutter, Ruth Wodak, Salomi Boukala and Caterina Carta); Part IV - Discursive Institutionalist Approaches (with contributions from Ben Rosamond, Antoine Rayroux and Vivien A. Schmidt). The volume is the first full-length study on how to apply different discourse analytical approaches and methodologies to European foreign policy. The paperback edition makes for a unique selling point as a course text.