Terrorism, counter-terrorism, and critique: opportunities, examples, and implications

ABSTRACT

This article explores the parameters, value and limitations of different critical strategies for those dissatisfied with the contemporary politics of terror. It argues, first, that the prominent (counter-)terrorism paradigm – in which terrorism is approached as a ubiquitous and very specific security challenge meriting appropriately exceptional responses – is far more critiqued than we might anticipate. And, second, that such critiques – which can be found across political language, popular culture, everyday life, and beyond – employ distinct critical resources to serve varying ends. Reflecting on these, the article offers a new heuristic distinguishing five critical strategies which seek to: (i) repudiate; (ii) question; (iii) subvert; (iv) replace, or (v) deconstruct the prominent counter-terrorism paradigm. This typology, it argues, offers scope for optimism and strategic resources for those attracted to a critical terrorism studies project going forward.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical terrorism studies
• critique
• criticism
• counter-terrorism
• terrorism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. My thanks goes to everyone who attended the inaugural lecture, and to all those who have contributed to the work upon which I here draw. This includes the very many co-authors and co-editors with whom I have worked over the years and whose ideas undoubtedly run through this discussion, as well as many other colleagues and friends for their time, insight and, indeed, critique. My thanks, too, to Richard Jackson for his encouragement in publishing this revised version of the lecture in Critical Studies on Terrorism. The full lecture may be watched here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec4eekn-TAY&index=2&list=PL0szx1BNfw9l6AFcn8vkPcnRAPb3v7KT_ – and any errors, of course, remain my own.

2. Such security exercises and actions, at times, can very directly produce their own insecurities as with an incident at Old Trafford football ground in 2016. On this occasion, a fake device unwittingly left behind after a security training event was subsequently discovered by a member of the public and interpreted as a real threat, leading to the ground’s evacuation twenty minutes before a Manchester United football match kicked off (BBC 2016).

3. Because this discussion comes out of an inaugural lecture, the examples given below draw primarily on my own previous research projects.

4. Further information on the project can be found via: https://britishmuslimvalues.wordpress.com/about/.

5. Important discussions of critique and criticism that have influenced my thinking and the discussion in this section include Ashley and Walker (1990), Roe (2004), Browning and McDonald (2013), and Aradau and Huysmans (2014).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number PTA 030 2003 00614 and grant number RES-000-22-3765] and the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number AH/N008340/1].

Notes on contributors

Lee Jarvis

Lee Jarvis is Professor of International Politics at the University of East Anglia, UK. He is author or editor of twelve books, including: Anti-terrorism, Citizenship and Security (with Michael Lister, 2015), Security: A Critical Introduction (with Jack Holland, 2015), Critical Perspectives on Counter-Terrorism (with Michael Lister, 2015) and, Counter-Radicalisation: Critical Perspectives (with Christopher Baker-Beall and Charlotte Heath-Kelly, 2015). Lee’s research has been funded by the ESRC, the AHRC, NATO and the US Office of Naval Research, amongst others.