NCJ Number
130873
Editor(s)
M Warner,
R Crisp
Date Published
1990
Length
206 pages
Annotation
These 12 essays examine terrorism in terms of different philosophical approaches to the concept; the analogies that have been presented with civil disobedience, governmental violence, and warfare; and the issues related to power, sovereignty, and forms of dissent and protest.
Abstract
The editors' introduction distinguishes between conflicts based on personal wants and those based on political ideals and emphasizes that politics involves the government's resolution of conflict and that those engaging in terrorism or civil disobedience are objecting to the government. Therefore, discussions of the legitimacy of protest must refer to the power structures or practices to which protests are directed. Individual papers examine the historical foundations and moral justifications for terrorism, the argument that those who are regarded as terrorists by some are viewed as freedom fighters by others, and the justifications used to support civil disobedience. Other papers examine rights of self-determination, anarchism and revolution, the territorial dimension of power, and the law of sovereignty. Chapter notes, author biographies, index, and 267 references (Publisher summary modified)