What's Wrong With Terrorism?ISBN: 978-0-7456-3497-5
Hardcover
256 pages
April 2006, Polity
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 10-15 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
|
Some see terrorism is an ideology, others claim it is a
deep-seated social or psychological failing, others that it is a
form of fighting unfairly judged by just-war standards. In this
provocative new book, Robert Goodin puts forward the view that
terrorism is, in fact, a deliberate tactic of frightening people
for socio-political gain. Fear affects peoples ability to reason
clearly and undermines their capacity for autonomous
self-government.
In this way, Goodin contends that terror is not only the weapon of organizations such as al-Qaeda; it also benefits democratic politicians who profit from the climate of insecurity induced by terrorist threats and violence. Political figures conducting a campaign of fear as part of their war on terrorism may therefore be committing wrongs akin to those of terrorists themselves. This, Goodin argues, is what is distinctively wrong with terrorism in the contemporary world.