Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-7pwfn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T00:50:49.495Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Core Commitments of Critical Terrorism Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Richard Jackson
Richard Jackson*
Affiliation:
Department of International Politics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Penglais, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales SY23 3FE, UK
*
E-mail: interpol@aber.ac.uk
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Critical terrorism studies (CTS) is founded firstly on a series of powerful critiques of the current state of orthodox terrorism studies, including: its poor methods and theories, its state centricity, its problem-solving orientation and its institutional and intellectual links to state security projects. Defined broadly by a sceptical attitude towards accepted terrorism ‘knowledge’, CTS is also characterised by a set of core epistemological, ontological and ethical commitments, including: an appreciation of the politically constructed nature of terrorism knowledge; an awareness of the inherent ontological instability of the ‘terrorism’ category; a commitment to critical reflexivity regarding the uses to which research findings are put; a set of well-defined research ethics and a normative commitment to an emancipatory political praxis.

Keywords

critical terrorism studiesontologyepistemologyethics

Information

Type
Symposium
Information
European Political Science , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , September 2007, pp. 244 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 European Consortium for Political Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Barkawi, T. (2004) ‘On the pedagogy of “Small Wars”’, International Affairs 80(1): 19-38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnett, J. and Whyte, D. (2005) ‘Embedded expertise and the new terrorism’, Journal for Crime, Conflict and the Media 1(4): 1-18.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. (2005) ‘Beyond choice: the onto-politics of critique’, International Relations 19(1): 127-134.10.1177/0047117805050068CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, R. (1981) ‘Social forces, states and world orders: beyond international relations theory’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies 10(2): 126-155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, A. (ed.) (1991) Western State Terrorism, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Gunning, J. (2007) ‘The case for a critical terrorism studies?’, Government & Opposition 42(3): 363-393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herman, E. and O'Sullivan, G. (1989) The ‘Terrorism’ Industry: The Experts and Institutions that Shape Our View of Terror, New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Ilardi, G. (2004) ‘Redefining the Issues: The Future of Terrorism Research and the Search for Empathy’, in Silke, A. (ed.)Research on Terrorism: Trends, Achievements and Failures, London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Jackson, R. (2005) Writing the War on Terrorism: Language, Politics and Counterterrorism, Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, R. (2007) ‘Constructing Enemies: “Islamic Terrorism” in Political and Academic Discourse’, Government & Opposition 42(3): 394-426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, R. and Reus-Smit, C. (1998) ‘Dangerous liaisons? Critical international theory and constructivism’, European Journal of International Relations 4(3): 259-294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmid, A. (2004) ‘Frameworks for conceptualising terrorism’, Terrorism and Political Violence 16(2): 197-221.10.1080/09546550490483134CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmid, A. and Jongman, A. (1988) Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Databases, Theories and Literature, Oxford: North Holland.Google Scholar
Shaw, K. (2003) ‘Whose knowledge for what politics?’, Review of International Studies 29: 199-221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silke, A. (2004a) ‘An Introduction to Terrorism Research’, in Silke, A. (ed.) Research on Terrorism: Trends, Achievements and Failures, London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Silke, A. (2004b) ‘The Devil You Know: Continuing Problems with Research on Terrorism’, in Silke, A. (ed.) Research on Terrorism: Trends, Achievements and Failures, London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Silke, A. (2004c) ‘The Road Less Traveled: Recent Trends in Terrorism Research’, in Silke, A. (ed.) Research on Terrorism: Trends, Achievements and Failures, London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Sluka, J. (2002) ‘Comment: what anthropologists should know about the concept of “Terrorism”’, Anthropology Today 18(2): 22-23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, S. (2004) ‘Singing our world into existence: international relations theory and September 11’, International Studies Quarterly 48(3): 499-515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, D. (1996) Capturing the Political Imagination: Think Tanks and the Policy Process, London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Tilly, C. (2004) ‘Terror, terrorism, terrorists’, Sociological Theory 22(1): 5-13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, M. and Krause, K. (1997) ‘Preface: Toward Critical Security Studies’, in Williams, M. and Krause, K. (eds.) Critical Security Studies: Concepts and Cases Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. vii-xxi.Google Scholar
Zulaika, J. and Douglass, W. (1996) Terror and Taboo: The Follies, Fables, and Faces of Terrorism, London: Routledge.Google Scholar