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Disciplining Terror: How Experts Invented 'Terrorism'

by Lisa Stampnitzky (Author)

4.6 13 ratings

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Since 9/11 we have been told that terrorists are pathological evildoers, beyond our comprehension. Before the 1970s, however, hijackings, assassinations, and other acts we now call 'terrorism' were considered the work of rational strategic actors. 'Disciplining Terror' examines how political violence became 'terrorism,' and how this transformation ultimately led to the current 'war on terror.' Drawing upon archival research and interviews with terrorism experts, Lisa Stampnitzky traces the political and academic struggles through which experts made terrorism, and terrorism made experts. She argues that the expert discourse on terrorism operates at the boundary - itself increasingly contested - between science and politics, and between academic expertise and the state. Despite terrorism now being central to contemporary political discourse, there have been few empirical studies of terrorism experts. This book investigates how the concept of terrorism has been developed and used over recent decades.

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ISBN-10

1107026636
ISBN-13

978-1107026636
Publisher

Cambridge University Press
Publication date

June 10, 2013
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
Print length

246 pages
See all details

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I do not know anyone who would have predicted some forty years ago that 'terrorism studies' would emerge as a field, much less that a talented sociologist would devote her attention to producing a fascinating critique of its erratic and contentious development. Lisa Stampnitzky's book is important not just as a disciplined examination of an undisciplined field but as a cautionary tale about the vexed relationship between experts and policy makers."
Martha Crenshaw, Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University

"Lisa Stampnitzky tells a truly fascinating and revelatory story about how 'terrorism' came to occupy a prominent place in contemporary politics and culture. Theoretically sophisticated, meticulously researched and eloquently written, Disciplining Terror represents a quantum leap forward in our understanding of the rise and evolution of the so-called 'terrorism experts'."
Richard Jackson, editor, Critical Studies on Terrorism

"In a riveting account, Disciplining Terror asks how a new breed of expert formulated the nightmare concept of 'terrorism'. Investigating how hijackings and hostage-taking, bombings and guerrilla warfare came to constitute a new, socially defined category, Lisa Stampnitzky traces how we ended up not in a war against particular enemies but in a war against a concept, a War on Terror. This brilliant, deeply researched analysis demystifies a fundamental obsession of our political culture."
Ann Swidler, University of California, Berkeley

"In this excellent and highly readable book, Stampnitzky traces the origin of terrorism studies as a discipline … The book does an admirable job of tracing the origins of terrorism studies from the 1960s - when it was a more conventional if nascent endeavor focused mainly on insurgencies and terrorism as a tactic - to the current post-9/11 state of affairs. This excellent work employs an array of primary and secondary sources and is a corrective that should be read by US foreign policy elites especially. Summing up: highly recommended."
J. Fields, Choice

'I do consider this book as one of the best and pungent arguments which escapes from simplistic causal explanations or media misconceptions as a whole portion of literature falls. Truthfully, it represents a first step in order to decipher the complex intersection of the experts and their networks with the constructed fields. The question whether Western civilization rested on the dichotomy between rationalization and its discontents, a point widely discussed throughout Disciplining Terror. Hence it exhibits as a helpful book for politicians, social scientists and policy makers interested in understanding terrorism as a cultural phenomenon.' Maximiliano Emanuel Korstanje, International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management

Book Description

Examines how political violence became 'terrorism', and how this transformation ultimately led to the current 'war on terror'.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press (June 10, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 246 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1107026636
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1107026636
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,575,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,663 in Trade
- #1,722 in Terrorism (Books)
- #1,865 in Sociology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 13 ratings

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Lisa Stampnitzky

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Lisa Stampnitzky is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Sheffield. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley, and has previously taught at Harvard University. Her website is: http://lisastampnitzky.com.

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Jason Brownlee

Accessible and insightful

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2023

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Top-notch scholarship in a very readable volume. Probably one of the best 10 books I’ve read about the historical and policy roots of the War on Terrorism cam from. I teach US foreign policy and I’ll be using Professor Stampnitzky’s book and her findings in my undergraduate and graduate courses from now on.

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Horace

Ever Wonder How Terrorism Evolved from a Tactic to an Enemy to be Fought?

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2015

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This book should be read by anyone interested in how and why the United States got mixed up in a "Global War on Terrorism." Stampnitzky traces how terrorism was transformed from a tactic to a transhistorical object of study, why it is that terrorism became an object of scrutiny (although there is no standard definition of what it is) while the study of terrorism per se still is shunned by most in the academic community, the evolution of the concept from the time the focus of policy makers was on insurgency associated with decolonization (roughly, the 1960s through the early 1970s) to its multiple iterations afterward (i.e., the current "new terrorism," supposedly far more dangerous than what one supposes might be called the "old terrorism"), and how it came about that "terrorists" are perceived as irrational actors and that therefore anyone seeking to study them or their motives is actually a sympathizer or an apologist (since he/she is attempting to find political or other rationales behind their prima facie un-understandable behavior). Along the way, she provides a damning portrait of such notorious "terrorism experts" as Clair Sterling (the Judith Miller of her day whose unproven theory that the Soviet Union was behind "international terrorism" was picked up by right-wing policy makers in much the same way that an irrational "Islamic fanaticism" was picked up by post-9/11 policy makers) and Walter Laqueur, who has hopped from one fashionable-but-unprovable idea to another so long as they get him a seat at the table and a pat on the head from the political right. A quick read--and a must read.

3 people found this helpful

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Zora N.

A must read for those who want to be informed

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2015

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Very contextual in the market of ideas. Provides history of term and shows how expert outside of academe took over. This in turn inspired a response from academe which include a vetting of credentials. This is huge moneny in terrorism and now former CIA and FBI have weighed in further confusing the issues. A must read.

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Jeffrey Alan Sluka

This is an excellent book that further contributes to an already well-developed critique ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2016

This is an excellent book that further contributes to an already well-developed critique of how the idea of "terrorism" is mainly used as a propaganda weapon, not a concept intended to further rational discussion and objective understanding of the realities of contemporary political violence. Those interested in this critical perspective on "terrorism" and conventional "terrorism studies" should also so:
Edward Herman, The Real Terror Network: Terrorism in Fact and Propaganda (1999, South End Press).
Edward Herman and Gerry O'Sullivan, The 'Terrorism' Industry: The Experts and Institutions that Shape our View of Terrorism (1989, Pantheon).
John Mueller, Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them (2006, Free Press).
Joseba Zulaika and William Douglass, Terror and Taboo: The Follies, Fables, and Faces of Terrorism (1996, Routledge).
Joseba Zulaika, Terrorism: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (2009, U. of Chicago Press).
Also see the journal - Critical Terrorism Studies.

5 people found this helpful

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Jacques Duchesneau

Great contribution in putting expertise in its proper context

Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2014

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This book is a "must-read" for anyone interested in the study of terrorism. The author scans the broad environment in which "pseudo-experts" operate and help nuance the opinions most frequently heard on terrorism. Well done.

Ema****

school project

Reviewed in Canada on June 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

amazing book that i had to order for my class in school! it was too expensive to buy in store so i ordered it online to save some bucks. interesting subject and topic that would interest you if you are into terrorists and the way it develops.

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