TERRORISM AS AN ESSENTIALLY CONTESTED CONCEPT IN MODERN INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL DISCOURSE

TERRORISM AS AN ESSENTIALLY CONTESTED CONCEPT IN MODERN INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Автор:  I. V. Skrynnikova

Аннотация : 

The current paper explores various reasons for the absence of any unanimous opinion about and a widely agreed upon definition of the concept of terrorism in modern international political discourse. Emphasis is placed on the difficulties associated with all «essentially contested concepts». In addition, the study draws attention to such problems as conceptual «stretching» and «traveling» and is an effort to determine a consensus definition of terrorism as well as to point out its controversial aspects by turning to an empirical analysis of how the concept has been employed by global political leaders as representatives of different cultures. Specifically, the well-known definition developed by Alex Schmid, is compared with the way the concept has been applied in the statements of major politicians on terrorism as a global challenge and threat to peace and stability. The 22«definitional elements» of which Schmid's definition is composed are compared to the frequency with which they appear in the statements and interviews of political leaders in papers, periodicals as well as in various Internet sources. The most striking feature of the political consensus over the meaning of terrorism is the virtual absence of references to the psychological and moral elements, widely thought to be at the heart of the concept.

Страницы:  570-573