International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
Since the mid-2000s, scholars have been using critical theory, poststructuralism, feminism/
queer theory, and postcolonialism to critique the hegemonic narrative of terrorism. They analyze
how terrorism discourse (re)produces global hierarchies and power relations. This involves
archeological and genealogical research, assessing the formation of the terrorism discourse
by analyzing how the peculiar Western discourse has become hegemonic. By incorporating
postcolonial and genealogical studies into critical terrorism studies, McQuade and Martini
attempt to explain this process in their respective works. Their books are complementary in
that they allow readers to trace the historical development of the concept of terrorism from
British India to its ubiquity in international institutions. Although they cover different historical
periods, it is still possible to see how the concept of terrorism has been used in both of those
historical periods – during British colonialism in India in McQuade’s book and after the 1980s
in Martini’s book – to normalize discriminatory practices against (post)colonial societies.
Topic:
Terrorism, United Nations, History, Hegemony, and Book Review