Abstract
When states or armed rebels indiscriminately attack civilians, they generally attack civilians who support and/or have a substantial capacity to influence opposing states or rebel movements. Overthrowing, defeating or strongly pressuring such states or movements is the primary goal of terrorism, which is thus a kind of indirect warfare. 'Categorical' terrorism - violence against a whole category of non-combatants - will generally be employed against non-combatants who support states or rebel movements that themselves perpetrate extensive, indiscriminate violence against non-combatants who support their armed enemies. By contrast, categories of civilians which include significant numbers of allies or potential allies (or which can be strongly influenced by non-violent appeals or protests) will not be attacked by states or rebels.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology |
Publisher | John Wiley and Sons |
Pages | 190-203 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781444330939 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 20 2012 |
Keywords
- Armed struggle, three types
- Conventional and guerrilla warfare
- Explanation of terrorism, requiring clear definitions
- Rebel organizations, in contexts of extreme state violence
- Relational theory of terrorism
- Structure of symmetrically terror-prone conflict
- Terrorism
- Terrorism, by states or rebels and ideological moderates
- Terrorism, violence against or infliction of suffering
- Two theories of terrorism
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)