Department of Criminal Justice California State University - Bakersfield CRJU 477 Terrorism Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali The Causes of Terrorism

Causes of Terrorism n The case of Ramirez Sanchez “Carlos the Jackal” 1. Venezuelan born T 2. Palestinian cause 3. Marxist ideologies 4. In Moscow Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

WHY VIOLENCE n Logical choice and political strategy n Collective rationality n lack of opportunity for political participation n Dissatisfaction of an elite INDIVIDUAL V. GROUP LEVEL n Rational, psychological, cultural V. political activism and social movements…dramatic events, e.g. Intifadeh NATIONAL LEVEL: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ETHNO-NATIONAL LEVEL: massacres, forced migrations

n Extreme Convictions: Motives and Terrorists 1. Moral convictions of T n Certainty of righteousness of their cause (please read examples provided by author) 2. Simplified definitions of Good & Evil n Cause is just n Mini-manual of Urban Guerilla by Brazilian revolutionary Carlos Marighella

3. Seeking Utopia: u Sir Thomas More 16 th C u Ideal political and social system u T: destruction of order in status u Nihilist dissident Terrorism u What type of UTOPIA is desirable: end justifies the means 4. Codes of Self Sacrifice: u Russian anarchist Sergei Nechayev……..living a revolution u Racial soldiers at war u The New Samurai” Japan’s Code of Bushido PLEASE READ TABLE 3.2 PAGE 87

Extreme Circumstances: Explanations of T: 3 categories 1. Acts of political will n Forcing change n Rationality n E.g. evolution of Marxist revolutionary strategy: act of political will Strategy of people’s war: Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong…1: indoctrinate the army, 2: win over the people, 3: hit, run, and fight forever

The Fruit of Injustice: 2) sociological explanations of T n Intergroup conflict: collective violence STRUCTURAL THEORY: identifying structure that affect groups in terms of their freedom, civil rights, access to services, etc… HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO TERRORISM RELATIVE DEPRIVATION THEORY n ? Anomie n Deprivation in an unfair manner n Shortcomings of theory

International Cases in Point (please be prepared to volunteer discussing the following cases in class). n Basques in Spain n Irish Catholic Nationalism n Palestinian Nationalism n French Canadian Nationalism

Rationality and Terrorist Violence: 3) Psychological Explanations of Terrorism F Internal psychological violence F Insanity or mental illness? Or lunatic fringe? F Individual-level explanations: F Researchers: no pattern of psychopathology among terrorists. But psychosocial commonalities???, fragmented families??? F Group-level explanations: F Acceptance within a group, the need to belong particularly within the context of political violence

Generalized Psychological Explanations u Terrorism as a choice u Terrorism as a technique u Terrorism a way to build esteem u Terrorism as a path to the “truth” u Terrorism as means of justification CASE: u THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME (please be prepared to discuss this in class)

Lighting the Fuse: Adversaries in the War on Terrorism u Perception of the West in other regions across the world u Example of September 11 th 2001 and attacks on civilizations u Muslim perspective on the attacks u How many Muslims have adopted western culture but remained loyal to their own u How can perceptions be reconciled??? E.g. the troops n Iraq and the war

CONCLUSION n Significance of theory in explaining behavior n Individual behavior v. group dynamics n Idealistic approach and achieving “utopia” n Justification of violence n Sociological, psychological, etc… explanations in T activity n The importance of “perception”