Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Old mythsIn the introductory chapters to the three editions of my The Politics of Terrorism (Stohl, 1979, pp.1-19; 1983, pp.1-22; 1988a, pp.1-30), I explored what I first identified as eight and eventually ten myths of terrorism as a tool for confronting existing knowledge claims about terrorism.The functional device of investigating the myths was very much congruent with the core commitments of critical terrorism studies identified by Richard Jackson, namely, adopting a skeptical attitude toward state-centric understandings of terrorism and approaching the study of terrorism through the examination of existing knowledge claims and subjecting them to appropriate 'tests' (Jackson 2007).The discussion of the myths was also intended to introduce the reader to the complexities of terrorism and to elucidate the intersection of terrorist acts and counter-terrorism strategies.In this paper, I want to revisit briefly the myths and some extensions of them, conterminously look at some new fantasies, and then conclude with the enduring realities of terrorism and the continuing research questions that need to be addressed.The ten myths are as follows:
Source: Critical Studies on Terrorism
Author: Michael Stohl
Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1987705691