Sociology of TerrorismKyra Waring

Understanding

To understand the sociology of terrorism one must think of:• The social construction • Terrorism as a political violence• Terrorism as a communication• Organizing terrorism• Socializing terrorism • Social control• And theorizing knowledge

Vocabulary• Social Control- The enforcement of

conformity by society upon its members, either by law or by social pressure.

• Social Sanctions- Rewards punishments that encourage conformity to social norms.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the term terrorism? What are some adjectives to describe terrorists? What are some characteristics? Facial features?

International

Domestic

Domestic

International

International

What does it mean to be a terrorist?

It’s hard to define terrorism. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. People tend to forget “terrorists” are fighting for a cause. - Terrorism is the pursuit, acquisition, and use of

power- It’s about violence to instill fear or a purpose- Terrorists acts are calculated.- It targets military, government representatives

as well as civilians.

Types of Terrorisms• State Terrorism- Maintenance of government

power• Nationalist Terrorism- Take state for ethnic

groups• Religious Terrorism – Holy war (Al Qaeda,

Isis)• Left and Right Wing Terrorism- Left:

Destruction of capitalist states and establishment of communist states. Right: Establishment of white supremacy states

Questions: • What are the demographics of terrorism?• Causation of terrorism?• How does the media influence societies

views of terrorism?

Who are more likely to become terrorists?

• Weak and unstable states and corrupt or ineffective governments. • Poverty and high unemployment, particularly among young men. • Access to more lethal weaponry and increasing use of tactics like suicide bombings capable of killing scores of bystanders. • A spike in sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, where ancient grudges give rise to modern massacres. • The increasing use of terrorism as a tactic in war.

There Are Two Causes of Terrorism

• All terrorist acts are motivated by two things:

- Social and political injustice: People choose terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social or political or historical wrong—when they have been stripped of their land or rights, or denied these.

Media

Mainstream media tends to emphasize themes such as “Grievances never justified.”• Should Media be censored?-Create false sense of security? Spread rumors and panic? Keep the public from understanding critical political situations?• Should Media be uncensored?-Give terrorists favorable publicity? Would it encourage publicity? Help them recruit new supporters? Lead to hostages? Cause panic?

Social Geometry?

• Social Geometry is the multidimensional location and direction in social space

- Horizontal: Degree of intimacy and integration: Kin, friends, strangers.

- Vertically: Socioeconomic & authority inequality: Class, status, power

- Corporate: Social distances between group organizations- Cultural: Social distances between languages, religions- Normative: Social control of crime and punishment

The Social Geometry of Terrorism - “Most violence is a social control…much is self-help, the handling of grievances by aggression…self-help includes things from pushing or slapping an individual to bombing a city or exterminating an ethnic group.” - Pure terrorism: “Self-help by

organized civilians who covertly inflict mass violence on other civilians.”

- The real definition of terrorism.

Interesting Facts:

• 94% of all terrorist attacks on US soil did not come from Islamists.

• In the 1980’s, the American government hailed Osama Bin Laden and his comrades as freedom fighters, at the time when politicians considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist

Question

• What is the difference between war and terrorism?

Sources

• www.annualreviews.org• www.globalsociology.pbworks.com• www.soc.umn.edu.com • http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~

pmclean/mcleanp_01_920_290_01_black_terrorism.pdf

• http://www.alternet.org/story/11647/10_things_to_know_about_terrorism