Editors’ introduction: neoliberalism and/as terror

Abstract

The articles in this special issue are drawn from papers presented at a conference entitled “Neoliberalism and/as Terror”, held at the Nottingham Conference Centre at Nottingham Trent University by the Critical Terrorism Studies BISA Working Group (CSTWG) on 15–16 September 2014. The conference was supported by both a BISA workshop grant and supplementary funds from Nottingham Trent University’s Politics and International Relations Department and the Critical Studies on Terrorism journal. Papers presented at the conference aimed to extend research into the diverse linkages between neoliberalism and terrorism, including but extending beyond the contextualisation of pre-emptive counterterrorism technologies and privatised securities within relevant economic and ideological contexts. Thus, the conference sought also to stimulate research into the ways that neoliberalism could itself be understood as terrorism, asking – amongst other questions – whether populations are themselves terrorised by neoliberal policy. The articles presented in this special issue reflect the conference aims in bringing together research on the neoliberalisation of counterterrorism and on the terror of neoliberalism.

Keywords:

• neoliberalism
• liberalism
• terror
• terrorism
• counterterrorism
• political violence
• protest

Notes

1. It should also be noted that other important works address the connection between the emergence of neoliberalism and practices of state terrorism/imperialism in previous eras, such as Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine (2007) and Ruth Blakeley’s State Terrorism and Neoliberalism: The North in the South (2009).

2. According to George, if you are in the top 20 percentile of earners, you will gain economically from neoliberalism, gaining gradually more the higher up the income bracket you progress, whereas if you are in the bottom 80 percentile of earners, you will lose economically from neoliberalism, losing progressively more the further down the income bracket you fall.

3. Mark Neocleous’ article is reproduced in this Special Issue in the form of a lecture “as spoken”, as it was presented at the Annual Critical Studies on Terrorism Working Group Conference.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Charlotte Heath-Kelly

Charlotte Heath-Kelly holds concurrent postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Warwick. Recent books include “Counter-Radicalisation: Critical Perspectives” (2014, edited with Lee Jarvis and Chris Baker-Beall) and “Politics of Violence: Militancy, International Politics, Killing in the Name” (2013).

Christopher Baker-Beall

Christopher Baker-Beall is a Lecturer in International Relations at Nottingham Trent University. Recent books include Counter-Radicalisation: Critical Perspectives (edited with Charlotte Heath-Kelly and Lee Jarvis, Routledge 2014).

Lee Jarvis

Lee Jarvis is a Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of East Anglia. Recent books include Security: A Critical Introduction (with Jack Holland, Palgrave: 2015), Critical Perspectives on Counter-terrorism (edited with Michael Lister, Routledge: 2015) and Cyberterrorism: Understanding, Assessment and Response (edited with Tom Chen and Stuart Macdonald, Springer: 2014).