A Battlefield of Meanings
The Struggle for Identity in the UN Debates on a Definition of International Terrorism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4087172 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eva Herschinger (0000-0001-6399-4530, Universität der Bundeswehr München, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 183-201 |
| Publication date | 2013-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Terrorism and Political Violence (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0954-6553 • E-ISSN: 1556-1836 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09546553.2011.652318 |
| OpenAlex | W2117448225 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
For nearly forty years, debates on a definition of international terrorism as part of a comprehensive convention have been preoccupying the United Nations. This article challenges conventional approaches referring to divergences in national interests and preferences, or to institutional constraints and national legal traditions, to explain why no definition has been agreed upon. It analyzes the inconclusive debates from a critical perspective and argues that the continuous search for a definition can be understood through the prism of collective identity struggles: the desire to define terrorism is not only the desire to give a precise content to terrorism and, thereby, create the identity of an Other. It is also the desire to create a collective identity, a “Self,” representing and uniting those who oppose terrorism. By applying a discursive understanding of collective identity construction to analyze the UN debates, the article elucidates how strongly the definition of terrorism hinders a common understanding among those who are opposing terrorism. Thereby, the analysis highlights that the demonization of terrorism foremost impedes a homogeneous understanding of a collective Self, ready to confront and define terrorism in the first place
Aesthetics · Collective identity · Criminology · Demonization · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Prism · Sociology · Terrorism · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
El impacto del terrorismo en el discurso político en España
Dislocation
Political narrative, collective EU security and the State of the Union
Comment désigner l’ennemi public international ? Pour une histoire conceptuelle de l’antiterrorisme onusien
Unpacking cyberterrorism discourse
Support for terrorism among voters for political wings of terrorist groups
Are terrorists “insane”? A critical analysis of mental health categories in lone terrorists’ trials
The dispositive of terrorism during the war on terrorism
Two decades later, same rhetoric
How much and why do political parties talk about terrorism
One terrorism to rule them all
The illusion of war
Hand in fist
Teaching terrorism, saving the state? Education and geopolitical imaginations of terrorism in 12 violently challenged states
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,17 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |