Terrorism as deviance or social control

Typically, this determination of intent follows the legal criteria of mens rea.

First, inherent in definitions of terrorism is a latent structure of politicality that allows for practices that maintain, create, and change its definition (Lauderdale, 1980, 2003); second, the definition of terrorism is a critical part of the production of hegemony, including specific conceptions of ideological and political boundaries and dominant historical narratives; third, though participation in terrorism historically has been recorded as low, explanations accounting for this lack of...

First, inherent in definitions of terrorism is a latent structure of politicality that allows for practices that maintain, create, and change its definition (Lauderdale, 1980, 2003); second, the definition of terrorism is a critical part of the production of hegemony, including specific conceptions of ideological and political boundaries and dominant historical narratives; third, though participation in terrorism historically has been recorded as low, explanations accounting for this ...

In attempting to examine these variations to discover the logic and coherence of terrorism as an analytical construct rather than simply a polemical construct, what becomes obvious for research is the danger of producing cross-national generalizations that are sweeping and ethnocentric.

Under what conditions are acts of deviance or social control defined as terrorism, and what are the mechanisms devised for the ostensible resolution of these acts?

It assumes patriarchy and domination as the social norm which women strive to attain or maintain.

Defining the intent and consequences of an action can provide some interesting departure points for the analysis of terrorism; however, to study the social negotiation of definitions, the role of various societal mechanisms such as professional organizations, social movements, institutionalized actors, moral entrepreneurs, the media, and the state also need to be examined.

Under what conditions are acts of deviance or social control defined as terrorism, and what are the mechanisms devised for the ostensible resolution of these acts?

But mostly, it denies women's ability to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence, despite their existence in patriarchal, social structures.

Terrorism is an ambiguous variable not easily measured or quantified, in part because there are multiple forms of terrorism, and they are easily confused with other styles of violence. [emphasis added]

On the other hand, responses to terrorism by states, particularly at the definitional stage, appear to maintain a fairly consistent pattern.

In attempting to examine these variations to discover the logic and coherence of terrorism as an analytical construct rather than simply a polemical construct, what becomes obvious for research is the danger of producing cross-national generalizations that are sweeping and ethnocentric.

Contemporary social life in the Horn region is generally a state-orchestrated experience that terrorizes the majority of the people.

Yet, the use of the mens rea criterion in law has been shown to be a conundrum.

Typically, this determination of intent follows the legal criteria of mens rea.

Historical comparisons demonstrate the changing construct of terrorism: writers from the English gentry such as Edmund Burke attempted to define the nascent French revolutionaries as 'terrorists,' while Robespierre and the Jacobins considered systematic terrorism to be a crucial and inherent component of any nation-state attempting to replace its archaic, monarchical structures with a 'democratic' republic.

And such a construct is present in all states from liberal democratic at one end of the continuum to dictatorships at the other end.

As women achieve egalitarian status in society, they increasingly participate in activities from which they have been excluded by male domination, such as terrorism (Georges-Ageyie, 1983).

Christopher Columbus's discovery of America remains a matter of common sense, even though indigenous peoples in hundreds of diverse 'nations' already lived there.

The Role of Hegemony

Though most scholars use the term hegemony as a synonym for domination, Gramsci's explication of this concept as a 'war of position' that takes place through the institutions and organizations of civil society is more heuristic in examining terrorism.

In the United States, for example, because of the effectiveness of hegemony, 'terrorism' has become virtually synonymous with Middle Eastern religious fanaticism and it is 'common sense' to suspect someone of Middle Eastern origin as the perpetrator of such violence.

It is essential to recognize this political character of terrorism in order to understand and explain its diverse manifestations and variability.

One of the most significant and ironic aspects to the nascent counter-terrorist intelligentsia is that their dominant ideas are structurally very similar to the prescriptions offered by Edmund Burke in the late 1700s to rid the world of the 'rule of the masses,' which he defined as terrorism.

Despite the conceptual problems acknowledged by most researchers, when the term 'terrorism' is invoked by states to define a particular act of violence, its meaning is understood and the state's response is clear.

Since 11 September 2001, a plethora of 'new' and 'renewed' terrorist experts, specialists and agencies have been born.

An example of hegemony as it relates to terrorism can be gleaned from the immediate reaction of the state to the Oklahoma City Federal Building explosion.

Hegemony is an order in which a certain way of life and thought dominates, in which one worldview permeates customs, politics and religion, especially their intellectual and moral connotations.

In attempting to examine these variations to discover the logic and coherence of terrorism as an analytical construct rather than simply a polemical construct, what becomes obvious for research is the danger of producing cross-national generalizations that are sweeping and ethnocentric.

Is this a credo women understand intuitively and experientially, accounting for their very low participation in terrorist activity?

And yet, nothing significant was being done about 'terrorism" or about the increasing global social, political and economic issues that might have mitigated or prevented violent confrontations such as the attack on the Twin Towers.

Terrorism, therefore, remains an enigmatic and elusive phenomenon in society.

Second, these ensuing processes require delineation at various stages: 1) The processes need to be examined during the conditions under which the definitions are created; 2) the initial consequences of those definitions; 3) the routinization (or normalization) of those definitions; and 4) the application of sanctions to those definitions.

History books, for example, are replete with acts of terrorism that are defined as revolutionary in nature.

And yet, nothing significant was being done about 'terrorism" or about the increasing global social, political and economic issues that might have mitigated or prevented violent confrontations such as the attack on the Twin Towers.

Despite the media's and state's significant efforts, however, attempts to manage terrorism, let alone eradicate it, are becoming increasingly violent and ineffective (Colvard, 2002; Lauderdale, 2003).

Most of the research that exists to examine terrorism, female or male, predominantly analyzes males and male interests.

Historical comparisons demonstrate the changing construct of terrorism: writers from the English gentry such as Edmund Burke attempted to define the nascent French revolutionaries as 'terrorists,' while Robespierre and the Jacobins considered systematic terrorism to be a crucial and inherent component of any nation-state attempting to replace its archaic, monarchical structures with a 'democratic' republic.

In Reflections, Burke describes the newly emerging states of his time, the United States and France, as being governed by a 'college of armed fanatics, for the propagation...

The means of defining and responding to terrorist incidents vary from state to state and are based on factors such as social, economic and political structures.

Or do women recognize the deeper, structural futility of employing a patriarchal tactic that dominates definitions of and responses to terrorism?

First, inherent in definitions of terrorism is a latent structure of politicality that allows for practices that maintain, create, and change its definition (Lauderdale, 1980, 2003); second, the definition of terrorism is a critical part of the production of hegemony, including specific conceptions of ideological and political boundaries and dominant historical narratives; third, though participation in terrorism historically has been recorded as low, explanations accounting for this lack of...

First, inherent in definitions of terrorism is a latent structure of politicality that allows for practices that maintain, create, and change its definition (Lauderdale, 1980, 2003); second, the definition of terrorism is a critical part of the production of hegemony, including specific conceptions of ideological and political boundaries and dominant historical narratives; third, though participation in terrorism historically has been recorded as low, explanations accounting for this ...

Today, interest in the involvement of women in terrorist activity is reappearing as Muslim females, for example, ostensibly are increasingly being used to carry out suicide attacks in the Middle East (Cunningham, 2003: Monshipouri and Karbasioun, 2003).

If anything useful is to be gleaned from history, and in particular from women's history, it is that female participation in terrorist-type violence, though particularly poignant, is remarkably low.

Women and Terrorism

Research on women and terrorism is particularly scant despite participation of women in so-called terrorist groups throughout history.