False dawns or new horizons? Further issues and challenges for Critical Terrorism Studies

Michel, Torsten; Richards, Anthony

doi:10.1080/17539150903306097

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For our purposes, this process can be useful as a way of reflexively engaging with "emancipation" as the ultimate, internally consistent value-axiom in a research agenda. This discussion addresses a key critique discussed above that the idea self-reflexivity ironically has been missing from CTS scholarship (Joseph 2011;Michel and Richards 2009). As Heath-Kelly showed, Critical Theory in itself cannot generate sufficient normative force to assert its normative claims and function, and emancipation would have to be, to some extent, reconceptualised to form the normative principle on which to launch projects to realise concrete utopias.…”

Section: A Weberian Approach To Emancipationmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Jones and Smith, in their now infamous article (Jones and Smith 2009) poured scorn on CTS and its proposed agenda, including how Ken Booth, in the article described above, assumed the manner of an Old Testament prophet handing down commandments to his disciples. At the more serious end of the scale, an early substantive critique of how CTS had adopted FSCT and emancipation was presented by Michel and Richards (Michel and Richards 2009).…”

Section: Critiquementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The end of emancipation? CTS and normativity

Lindahl

2019

Critical Studies on Terrorism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although CTS can be described as a broad church, scholars working within this approach want to produce knowledge which can help shape, improve, change, or replace contemporary counterterrorism. Guided by Marx's mantra that the point of theory is not only to interpret the world but to change it, CTS has since its inception challenged the status quo of contemporary counterterrorism on the basis that it is possible to conduct counterterrorism differently, more humanly, and, put plainly, better. The concept of emancipation was identified early on as the foundation and basis for knowledge. However, a deeper debate on emancipation has largely been absent since 2010. Could it be that CTS exhausted the debate on one of its core commitments only five years into its existence? Have we reached the end of emancipation? Or could it be that emancipation is not that attractive at all for CTS and its normative projects? This article begins with a review and a state-of-theart discussion of emancipation within CTS. While it might be the end of emancipation in its traditional conceptualisation, the article argues that emancipation can be retained as the basis for normative theorising and action within CTS when reconceptualised as a Weberian value-axiom. The article concludes by exploring a transfiguration of the concept of emancipation itself.

show abstract

Section: A Weberian Approach To Emancipationmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Critiquementioning

confidence: 99%

The end of emancipation? CTS and normativity

Lindahl

2019

Critical Studies on Terrorism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Stemming from Frankfurt School-inspired Critical Theory, CTS scholarship adopts empirical, normative, ethical and theoretical approaches that question the methods and arguments of mainstream practices of governments and its supporting scholarship. CTS problematises mainstream approaches to terrorism which characterises terrorism as the conduct of mentally imbalanced individuals and groups (McDonald 2007;Michel and Richards 2009), driven mainly by an unjust desire to subvert democracy or, in general, the "liberal", "progressive" and "civilised" western tradition (Al-Sumait, Lingle, and Domke 2009;Stohl 2008). This latter point is especially true of the characterisation of so called "religious terrorism" in "Mainstream Terrorism Studies" (MTS) , which is the common description of groups like Boko Haram.…”

Section: Conceptual Approach Critical Terrorism Studiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Harvest of violence: the neglect of basic rights and theBoko Haraminsurgency in Nigeria

Yusuf

2013

Critical Studies on Terrorism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drawing on the core commitments of Critical Terrorism Studies, and mostly, the ethic of emancipation, this article focuses on the Boko Haram insurgency to investigate recurring violent conflict in Nigeria. It identifies a governance gap not adverted to in the official narrative which has led to gross discontent at the lower levels of the society. The governance gap has created fertile breeding grounds for the recruitment of disillusioned youths who are easily mobilised to violence and lately, insurgency. There are normative and pragmatic reasons to adopt and prioritise social welfare through the implementation of economic, social and cultural obligations and due-process rights as a viable approach to at least reducing the spate of violence in the country. The discussion has relevance for resolving situations of violence and conflict in sub-Sahara Africa in particular and elsewhere in the developing world.

show abstract

“…More specifically, a survey of the journal supports the assessment that it has been successful in its goal of provoking and encouraging open and rigorous debate on a wide array of important issues, not least on the question of the intrinsic value of critical terrorism studies itself (see Horgan and Boyle 2008;Michel and Richards 2009), and the way in which the CTS field has evolved and developed over the years. In addition to many examples from previous volumes, in this special issue, two of the contributing articles raise questions about the way in which CTS has developed over the past decade that perhaps does not live up to some of its stated aims (see Toros 2017;Van Milders 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Looking back, the first point to note is that the journal remains committed to its original self-identification as a "research orientation that is willing to challenge dominant knowledge and understandings of terrorism, is sensitive to the politics of labelling in the terrorism field, is transparent about its own values and political standpoints, adheres to a set of responsible research ethics, and is committed to a broadly defined notion of emancipation" (Ibid: 2). Even the most cursory survey of the journal's ten volumes provides ample evidence that the editors and contributors have remained loyal to these important commitments, even when they have been criticised for doing so (see Smith 2009, 2011;Michel and Richards 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%