Disciplining Terror

Abstract

Since 9/11 we have been told that terrorists are pathological evildoers, beyond our comprehension. Before the 1970s, however, hijackings, assassinations, and other acts we now call "terrorism" were considered the work of rational strategic actors. Disciplining Terror examines how political violence became "terrorism," and how this transformation ultimately led to the current "war on terror." Drawing upon archival research and interviews with terrorism experts, Lisa Stampnitzky traces the political and academic struggles through which experts made terrorism, and terrorism made experts. She argues that the expert discourse on terrorism operates at the boundaryitself increasingly contestedbetween science and politics, and between academic expertise and the state. Despite terrorism now being central to contemporary political discourse, there have been few empirical studies of terrorism experts. This book investigates how the concept of terrorism has been developed and used over recent decades. lisa stampnitzky is Lecturer on Social Studies at Harvard University. She earned her PhD in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and has also held fellowships at Harvard, Oxford, Ohio State, and the European University Institute.

Cold War counter-terrorism: the evolution of international counter-terrorism in the RCMP Security Service, 1972–1984

“…19 In another recent book, Disciplining Terror, sociologist Lisa Stampnitzky illustrates the importance of the 1970s in determining future perceptions of terrorism and dominant trends in terrorism studies as a discipline. 20 There is some evidence of change around interpreting terrorism during this period in public comments by senior Mounted Policemen. Starnes' successor as Director General of the RCMP Security Service, Michael Dare, observed in a 1974 speech that 'international terrorism like aggression or subversion, is not a precise concept which lends itself to definition….…”

“…In his 1974 speech, Michael Dare explicitly linked terrorism to legitimate grievances on the part of those carrying out attacks, a view that perhaps seems extraordinary today but one that, as Lisa Stampnitzky points out in Disciplining Terror, was more common in the 1960s and 1970s. 34 'There is an element of truth ... in the assertion that political violence is the product of "just grievances," of social deprivations and intolerable oppression', noted Dare, although he added that these grievances did not justify a resort to violence. He went on to outline six implications or threats to Canada from international terrorism:…”

Terrorcraft: empire and the making of the racialised terrorist threat

“…The gruesome turn of events was widely covered by the media and viewed by an estimated 900 million people around the world. 75 Even though there were a number of hijackings and other serious incidents of political violence in the years immediately prior to it, Munich became, as Lisa Stampnitzky argues, 'the spectacular event' in histories written about modern terrorism. 76 The Nixon administration set up the first uS government body charged with focusing on terrorism, the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism (CCCT).…”

“…75 Even though there were a number of hijackings and other serious incidents of political violence in the years immediately prior to it, Munich became, as Lisa Stampnitzky argues, 'the spectacular event' in histories written about modern terrorism. 76 The Nixon administration set up the first uS government body charged with focusing on terrorism, the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism (CCCT). The CCCT directed the FBI, the State Department, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to enact 'special measures' to monitor all Arab Americans − citizens and non-residents.…”

(In)Seguranças e terrorismos: um estudo comparado entre as mídias online BBC e a Dabiq Magazine a partir dos ataques em Paris

“…Both BBC and Dabiq Magazine media address subliminal messages based on the nature of political discourses on terror and terrorism(s). That is a tactic to reach their aims, mainly after 2001, when terrorism reached 31,000 incidents with approximately 64,000 deaths, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) (STEPANOVA, 2014;STAMPNITZKY, 2013).…”