Suchergebnisse

SHOULD WE ANALYTICALLY CONSTITUTE OR DISSOLVE THE CATEGORY OF TERRORISM? IN THIS ARTICLE, THE BASQUE CASE IS ADDUCED TO ILLUSTRATE THE DYNAMICS OF CONSTRUCTING AND DECONSTRUCTING A REFINED NOTION OF TERRORISM. TWO APPROACHES ARE CONFRONTED: THE LEGAL TECHNICAL WORK OF A COMMITTEE OF TERRORISM EXPERTS AND THE ETHNOGRAPHIC WORK OF AN ANTRHROPOLOGIST. THE EXPERTS' POSITION THAT SOCIAL SCIENCE SHOULD BE SUBSERVIENT TO POLICE AND INTELLIGENCE COUNTER-INSURGENCY IS QUESTIONED. ANTHROPOLOGISTS HAVE LEARNED A DISTURBING LESSON FROM THE HISTORY OF THEIR DISCIPLINE: AFTER HAVING ELABORATED DOZENS OF THEORIES ON CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS ANIMISM, TOTEMISM, TABOO, AND WITCHCRAFT, THE CONCLUSION WAS REACHED THAT THEIR BEST THEORETICAL ADVANCE CONSISTED IN ANALYTICALLY DISSOLVING THE CATEGORY IN QUESTION. THE PAPER CONCLUDES THAT THIS LITERATURE SHOULD CAUTION STUDENTS OF TERRORISM ABOUT MAKING SIMILAR CATEGORICAL MISTAKES AND THAT ADOPTION OF CRUSADING ATTITUDES UNDER THE MASK OF EXPERTISE HAS MORE TO DO WITH RELIGION THAN WITH SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVITY.