Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism
University of York
Lecture 1.1 – What is Terrorism?
The concept Terrorism
Violent act
o Can be distributing material that supports or displays violent acts etc.
Politically motivated
o Can also be religious or ideologically motivated
Definition 1
Politically motivated violence, in order to induce fear
o Communicative aspect of terrorism (Stahl, 2011)
o Symbolic rather than military purpose - assassinations of leaders, destruction of
landmarks etc.
But, all violence induces fear
Difference between the intended and received message
o NATO bombing in Yugoslavia, intended to communicate freedom, but this was not
felt on the ground
o Suffragettes conducted terrorist activities, but to create equality etc "Deeds not
words"
Definition 2
Politically motivated violence, directed against civilians
o A tactic 'outside the rules of warfare' (White, 2006: 7)
o '[Acts] intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-
combatants…' (UN, 2004)
Can include acts by states - e.g. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
But, distinguishing civilians and combatants difficult
o Civilians die in all armed conflicts
o The question is whether we believe they were intended targets or not
Definition 3
Politically motivated violence by non-state actors
o Excludes acts of state violence
o 'The term "terrorism" means premeditated politically motivated violence by sub-
national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience' (US
State Dept., 1984)
o 'Violence committed by someone of which we disapprove' (Brian Whittaker, The
Guardian)
Definition 4
Politically motivated violence which we consider to be illegitimate
o Normative aspect of concept 'terrorism' (Dexter)
o Illegitimate versus legitimate political violence
Defining terrorism
Politically motivated violence that we believe
Intended to induce fear; is directed against civilians; is conducted by non-state actors; is
illegitimate
o This is all subjective and contested. Is it useful to define terrorism at all?
Lecture 1.2 – Should terrorism be defined?
Difficulty of defining terrorism (Schmid, 2004)
Diverse usage in pop culture, media, policy and academia
, Applied to different forms of violence
Has changed meaning over time
Normativity of the term
Why should we define the concept of terrorism?
United Kingdom Terrorism Act 2000
o Use and threat of action
o Involving serious violence against person, or damage to property
o For political, religious or ideological cause
Amnesty International: "the definition is vaguely worded and could be used to
prosecute supporters of social and political movements, e.g. anti-nuclear campaigns"
2017, FBI surveillance of BLM protestors - terrorism or racism?
Why is the definition important?
Court case: R v Gul (2013)
o 5 years in prison through Terrorism Act (2000)
o Posting YouTube videos of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters
Appeal case: actions by non-state armed troops against foreign invaders
should not be classed as terrorism
The concept of terrorism is important - plays a large political and legal role
o It matters a great deal how it is defined and who does the defining
Why should we not use the concept terrorism?
1. Not analytically useful
a. Generalisations about different acts called terrorism lose sight of the particularities of
the context
i. '[t]here is little that the Unabomber, anti-abortionists, US officers training
Nicaraguan Contras and Hamas have in common beyond their use of a
similar tactic' (Gunning, 2007b: 239)
2. Masks other forms of violence
a. Must define violence before defining terrorism - e.g. structural violence; political,
economic structures that foreseeably cause harm to people
b. E.g. women being denied the right to vote leads to terrorist violence from both police
and suffragettes in the 1910's
3. Discriminately used
a. Those with power use it to influence public opinion - often targeted at marginalised
or minority groups
Contestations around definition
Should state acts ever be defined as terrorism?
o Common in the 1980's; legally speaking, unlikely that states would agree to this
o States have monopoly on the legitimate use of force
Should armed resistance and struggles against foreign occupation be defined as terrorism?
o Nelson Mandela originally seen as a terrorist
Should the term terrorism be applied to groups or just to individual acts?
Is a universal definition possible? Is it even desirable?
Critical vs. Orthodox Terrorism Studies
Critical
o Post-positivist; the concept terrorism is socially constructed
o Human-centric; investigates violence threatening humans by state and non-state
actors
o Critical; how can terrorism be understood?
Orthodox
o Positivist; terrorism is terrorism
o State-centric; investigating terrorism as acts threatening the state
o Problem-solving; how can terrorists be prevented and defeated
, Lecture 2.1 – Seeing Terrorism positively: Russian Anarchists
Terrorism as a positive concept
Vera Zasulich shoots Gov-General in 1887; "I am a terrorist, not a killer"
"Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible…" - Robespierre, 1794
Anarchists - the first modern terrorists?
Older instances of terrorism
o Political violence intended to cause fear, targeting civilians
Changing times
o Availability of guns and dynamite, newspapers and mass communication
Narodnya Volya
Assassinations and bombing attacks
Important to look at the context of the revolution
o Authoritarian Tsarist regime; country in flux, industrialisation, modernisation; liberal
students
Land and Liberty
o Pamphlets, hunger strikes
o Violence to avenge comrades
o The Russian terrorist is "noble, terrible, irresistibly fascinating, uniting the two
sublimities of human grandeur, the martyr and the hero" (Stepniak, Underground
Russia)
Divisions within the movement
o Late 1870s; repression increased - so more violent groups gained leverage
o Narodnya Volya emerged from Land and Liberty
Chief targets were major police and political figures which were most
repressive
How the concept terrorism changes
Terrorism became a negative label
ANC on US terror watchlist until 2008
Struggle around the framing of political violence
Word 'terror' used to describe the state system
RAF in prison - demanded prisoner of war status
o Hunger strikes
Not just semantics, but linked to legitimacy
Lecture 2.2 – Self-Determination and Armed Resistance
Nelson Mandela and the Fight Against Apartheid
1950s; struggle for full voting rights for black South Africans
Protest against pass laws and apartheid
Defiance Campaign
o Civil disobedience - enter white-only spaces and burn pass books needed to be carried
by all black people
Sharpeville Massacre, 1960
Protestors at police station not carrying their pass books
Police opened fire and 69 died
o Not known how planned it was, or how much was just provoked by fear on the part of
the police
State of emergency declared
ANC banned
Soweto Uprising, 1976
Demonstrations against introduction of Africaans as main language in schools
University of York
Lecture 1.1 – What is Terrorism?
The concept Terrorism
Violent act
o Can be distributing material that supports or displays violent acts etc.
Politically motivated
o Can also be religious or ideologically motivated
Definition 1
Politically motivated violence, in order to induce fear
o Communicative aspect of terrorism (Stahl, 2011)
o Symbolic rather than military purpose - assassinations of leaders, destruction of
landmarks etc.
But, all violence induces fear
Difference between the intended and received message
o NATO bombing in Yugoslavia, intended to communicate freedom, but this was not
felt on the ground
o Suffragettes conducted terrorist activities, but to create equality etc "Deeds not
words"
Definition 2
Politically motivated violence, directed against civilians
o A tactic 'outside the rules of warfare' (White, 2006: 7)
o '[Acts] intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-
combatants…' (UN, 2004)
Can include acts by states - e.g. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
But, distinguishing civilians and combatants difficult
o Civilians die in all armed conflicts
o The question is whether we believe they were intended targets or not
Definition 3
Politically motivated violence by non-state actors
o Excludes acts of state violence
o 'The term "terrorism" means premeditated politically motivated violence by sub-
national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience' (US
State Dept., 1984)
o 'Violence committed by someone of which we disapprove' (Brian Whittaker, The
Guardian)
Definition 4
Politically motivated violence which we consider to be illegitimate
o Normative aspect of concept 'terrorism' (Dexter)
o Illegitimate versus legitimate political violence
Defining terrorism
Politically motivated violence that we believe
Intended to induce fear; is directed against civilians; is conducted by non-state actors; is
illegitimate
o This is all subjective and contested. Is it useful to define terrorism at all?
Lecture 1.2 – Should terrorism be defined?
Difficulty of defining terrorism (Schmid, 2004)
Diverse usage in pop culture, media, policy and academia
, Applied to different forms of violence
Has changed meaning over time
Normativity of the term
Why should we define the concept of terrorism?
United Kingdom Terrorism Act 2000
o Use and threat of action
o Involving serious violence against person, or damage to property
o For political, religious or ideological cause
Amnesty International: "the definition is vaguely worded and could be used to
prosecute supporters of social and political movements, e.g. anti-nuclear campaigns"
2017, FBI surveillance of BLM protestors - terrorism or racism?
Why is the definition important?
Court case: R v Gul (2013)
o 5 years in prison through Terrorism Act (2000)
o Posting YouTube videos of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters
Appeal case: actions by non-state armed troops against foreign invaders
should not be classed as terrorism
The concept of terrorism is important - plays a large political and legal role
o It matters a great deal how it is defined and who does the defining
Why should we not use the concept terrorism?
1. Not analytically useful
a. Generalisations about different acts called terrorism lose sight of the particularities of
the context
i. '[t]here is little that the Unabomber, anti-abortionists, US officers training
Nicaraguan Contras and Hamas have in common beyond their use of a
similar tactic' (Gunning, 2007b: 239)
2. Masks other forms of violence
a. Must define violence before defining terrorism - e.g. structural violence; political,
economic structures that foreseeably cause harm to people
b. E.g. women being denied the right to vote leads to terrorist violence from both police
and suffragettes in the 1910's
3. Discriminately used
a. Those with power use it to influence public opinion - often targeted at marginalised
or minority groups
Contestations around definition
Should state acts ever be defined as terrorism?
o Common in the 1980's; legally speaking, unlikely that states would agree to this
o States have monopoly on the legitimate use of force
Should armed resistance and struggles against foreign occupation be defined as terrorism?
o Nelson Mandela originally seen as a terrorist
Should the term terrorism be applied to groups or just to individual acts?
Is a universal definition possible? Is it even desirable?
Critical vs. Orthodox Terrorism Studies
Critical
o Post-positivist; the concept terrorism is socially constructed
o Human-centric; investigates violence threatening humans by state and non-state
actors
o Critical; how can terrorism be understood?
Orthodox
o Positivist; terrorism is terrorism
o State-centric; investigating terrorism as acts threatening the state
o Problem-solving; how can terrorists be prevented and defeated
, Lecture 2.1 – Seeing Terrorism positively: Russian Anarchists
Terrorism as a positive concept
Vera Zasulich shoots Gov-General in 1887; "I am a terrorist, not a killer"
"Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible…" - Robespierre, 1794
Anarchists - the first modern terrorists?
Older instances of terrorism
o Political violence intended to cause fear, targeting civilians
Changing times
o Availability of guns and dynamite, newspapers and mass communication
Narodnya Volya
Assassinations and bombing attacks
Important to look at the context of the revolution
o Authoritarian Tsarist regime; country in flux, industrialisation, modernisation; liberal
students
Land and Liberty
o Pamphlets, hunger strikes
o Violence to avenge comrades
o The Russian terrorist is "noble, terrible, irresistibly fascinating, uniting the two
sublimities of human grandeur, the martyr and the hero" (Stepniak, Underground
Russia)
Divisions within the movement
o Late 1870s; repression increased - so more violent groups gained leverage
o Narodnya Volya emerged from Land and Liberty
Chief targets were major police and political figures which were most
repressive
How the concept terrorism changes
Terrorism became a negative label
ANC on US terror watchlist until 2008
Struggle around the framing of political violence
Word 'terror' used to describe the state system
RAF in prison - demanded prisoner of war status
o Hunger strikes
Not just semantics, but linked to legitimacy
Lecture 2.2 – Self-Determination and Armed Resistance
Nelson Mandela and the Fight Against Apartheid
1950s; struggle for full voting rights for black South Africans
Protest against pass laws and apartheid
Defiance Campaign
o Civil disobedience - enter white-only spaces and burn pass books needed to be carried
by all black people
Sharpeville Massacre, 1960
Protestors at police station not carrying their pass books
Police opened fire and 69 died
o Not known how planned it was, or how much was just provoked by fear on the part of
the police
State of emergency declared
ANC banned
Soweto Uprising, 1976
Demonstrations against introduction of Africaans as main language in schools
