Symbolism In Terrorism

The symbolic value of targets is what differentiates terrorism from other forms of extreme violence. Terrorism is designed to inflict deep psychological wounds on an enemy rather than demolish its material ability to fight. The September 11, 2001 attacks, for example, demonstrated the power of symbolism. The World Trade Center was targeted by Al Qaeda because the Twin Towers epitomized Western civilization, U.S. imperialism, financial success, modernity, and freedom. The symbolic character of terrorism is the focus of this textbook. A comprehensive analysis, it incorporates descriptions, definitions, case studies, and theories. Each chapter focuses on a specific dimension of symbolism in terrorism and explains the contexts and processes that involve the main actors as well as the symbolism of both the purposes and targets of terrorism. Also discussed are new religious movements, which represent another important aspect of terrorism, such as Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that used sarin gas in the Tokyo subway in 1995. Over forty areas of symbolism are covered throughout the chapters, including physical and non-physical symbolism, linguistic symbolism, the social construction of reality, rituals, myths, performative violence, iconoclasm, brand management, logos, semiotics, new media, and the global village. This allows for an in-depth examination of many issues, such as anti-globalization, honor killing, religious terrorism, suicide terrorism, martyrdom, weapons, female terrorism, public communication, visual motifs, and cyberspace. Main concepts are clearly defined, and followed by theory illustrated by international case studies. Chapter summaries, key points, review questions, research and practice suggestions are recurring components as well. This groundbreaking text encompasses all major aspects of symbolism in terrorism and will be an essential resource for anyone studying terrorism.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 created a new political landscape and a new era of warfare. Language, Symbols, and the Media offers insights into the impact and influence of 9/11 upon our cultural, social and political life. The book opens with an introductory chapter on communications, media language, and visual symbolism in the immediate wake of the attacks. The second chapter considers the challenge to religious pluralism, analyzing the grounds for the immediate backlash against Islam. Chapter 3 reviews several crucial historical and contemporary Supreme Court rulings relevant to the limitations of free speech in times of war and national crises. The consideration of First Amendment rights is continued in chapter 4, which places the Patriot Act in historical context by comparing the legislation and its interpretation of it to other legislation passed in response to past American crises. The immediate aftermath of the attacks witnessed many calls for an end to "the age of irony" and a return to "traditional values." Chapter 5 considers some contrarian responses and analyzes the impact of irony as a rhetorical device in American culture. The unifying role of sport in the post-9/11 healing process in America is examined in chapter 6. Chapter 7 examines the reactions and responses of young adults to the events of 9/11 one year later. Chapter 8 demonstrates how politicians received a public "makeover" of their careers. Chapter 9 explores the impact of 9/11 on the rhetoric of advertising, while chapter 10 focuses more closely on how it affected the tourism industry. A concluding chapter examines several instances of media self-censorship and its implications for the policy making process during times of crisis. As historians and other analysts work towards greater understanding of the event that triggered our "war on terror," the role and function of language and communications will take on greater urgency. This volume will be of interest to cultural studies specialists, sociologists, journalists, political scientists, historians, as well as general readers. Robert E. Denton, Jr. holds the W. Thomas Rice Chair of Leadership Studies in the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech and serves as Director of the Rice Center for Leader Development. He is the author, co-author and editor of 15 books on political communication and campaigns.

The aphorism says: "A picture speaks s thousand words", therefore studying the symbolism of armed organisations can throw light on the ideology of armed organisations as well as make the political course and fighting tactics more evident. This book is a guide to the symbolism of armed non-governmental organisations, including terrorists, partisans, separatists, self-defence squads, militias, armed sects, umbrella organisations and also political parties and movements closely tied to armed organisations. The book contains a total of 400 organisations from 90 countries and almost 800 symbols. There are symbols of organisations from a hundred years ago, as well as modern ones. The knowledge of symbolism will allow quick and easy identification of propagandist and program materials of different weaponed movements. Today, despite lots of literature about terrorism, symbolism and armoury, a complete book about the symbols of terrorism and weaponed movements has not been written.

As in previous editions, Understanding Terrorism, Third Edition offers a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive exploration of contemporary terrorism that helps readers develop the knowledge and skills they need to critically assess terrorism in general and terrorist incidents in particular. The Third Edition offers new, updated theories and cases, offers a consolidated discussion of ideological terrorism, and new photographs, updated tables, enhanced graphics and a new two-color design. Key Features: - A "one-stop shop" for understanding terrorism, emphasizing contextual analysis and multiple perspectives - New or expanded case studies and profiles, covering such topics as the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, women as terrorists, events in Zimbabwe, the Palestinian movement and other religious terrorism, the death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Hezbollah, FARC (including the Betancourt operation), recent narco-terrorist events in Mexico, and terrorist profiles of Leila Khaled and Abu Nidal - Includes "Opening Viewpoints" at the beginning of each chapter with relevant examples to introduce readers to the themes and theories in the discussion that follows - Updated throughout with new Chapter Perspectives, Cases in Point, photos, literature references, recommended readings, web exercises, and recommended web pages - Ends each chapter with "Discussion Boxes" that provide controversial information, along critical thinking questions to stimulate classroom discussions - Outstanding Ancillaries, with an updated Student study site including study tools, links to online video resources, SAGE journal articles, and more. Click on 'Links and Resources' (top left hand corner) to see more. Understanding Terrorism is a core resource for undergraduate students of terrorism.

Baudrillard sees the power of the terrorists as lying in the symbolism of slaughter—not merely the reality of death, but in a sacrifice that challenges the whole system. Where previously the old revolutionary sought to conduct a struggle between real forces in the context of ideology and politics, the new terrorist mounts a powerful symbolic challenge which, when combined with high-tech resources, constitutes an unprecedented assault on an over-sophisticated and vulnerable West. This new edition is up-dated with the essays “Hypotheses on Terrorism” and “Violence of the Global.”

In compiling this annotated bibliography on the psychology of terrorism, the author has defined terrorism as "acts of violence intentionally perpetrated on civilian noncombatants with the goal of furthering some ideological, religious or political objective." The principal focus is on nonstate actors. The task was to identify and analyze the scientific and professional social science literature pertaining to the psychological and/or behavioral dimensions of terrorist behavior (not on victimization or effects). The objectives were to explore what questions pertaining to terrorist groups and behavior had been asked by social science researchers; to identify the main findings from that research; and attempt to distill and summarize them within a framework of operationally relevant questions. To identify the relevant social science literature, the author began by searching a series of major academic databases using a systematic, iterative keyword strategy, mapping, where possible, onto existing subject headings. The focus was on locating professional social science literature published in major books or in peer-reviewed journals. Searches were conducted of the following databases October 2003: Sociofile/Sociological Abstracts, Criminal Justice Abstracts (CJ Abstracts), Criminal Justice Periodical Index (CJPI), National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts (NCJRS), PsycInfo, Medline, and Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS). Three types of annotations were provided for works in this bibliography: Author's Abstract -- this is the abstract of the work as provided (and often published) by the author; Editor's Annotation -- this is an annotation written by the editor of this bibliography; and Key Quote Summary -- this is an annotation composed of "key quotes" from the original work, edited to provide a cogent overview of its main points.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Examines terrorists¿ involvement in a variety of crimes ranging from motor vehicle violations, immigration fraud, and mfg. illegal firearms to counterfeiting, armed bank robbery, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. There are 3 parts: (1) Compares the criminality of internat. jihad groups with domestic right-wing groups. (2) Six case studies of crimes includes trial transcripts, official reports, previous scholarship, and interviews with law enforce. officials and former terrorists are used to explore skills that made crimes possible; or events and lack of skill that the prevented crimes. Includes brief bio. of the terrorists along with descriptions of their org., strategies, and plots. (3) Analysis of the themes in closing arguments of the transcripts in Part 2. Illus.