Modernity and Terrorism: From Anti-Modernity to Modern Global Terror

404 Pages·2013·5.293 MB·English

by  Milan Zafirovski, Daniel G. Rodeheaver

Modernity and Terrorism
Studies in Critical
Social Sciences
Series Editor
David Fasenfest
Wayne State University
Editorial Board
Chris Chase-Dunn, University of California-Riverside
G. William Domhofff, University of California-Santa Cruz
Colette Fagan, Manchester University
Martha Gimenez, University of Colorado, Boulder
Heidi Gottfried, Wayne State University
Karin Gottschall, University of Bremen
Bob Jessop, Lancaster University
Rhonda Levine, Colgate University
Jacqueline O’Reilly, University of Brighton
Mary Romero, Arizona State University
Chizuko Ueno, University of Tokyo
VOLUME 52
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/scss
Modernity and Terrorism
From Anti-Modernity to Modern Global Terror
By
Milan Zafirovski
Daniel G. Rodeheaver
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2013
Cover illustration: by Dave Wattley.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zafirovski, Milan, 1958-
 Modernity and terrorism : from anti-modernity to modern global terror / by Milan Zafirovski,
Daniel G. Rodeheaver.
  pages cm. -- (Studies in critical social sciences, ISSN 1573-4234 ; volume 52)
 Includes index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-24287-6 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-24288-3 (e-book) 1. Terrorism.
2. State-sponsored terrorism. 3. Terrorism--Prevention. I. Rodeheaver, Daniel Gilbert, 1954-
II. Title.
 HV6431.Z345 2013
 363.325--dc23
2013012482
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ISSN 1573-4234
ISBN 978-90-04-24287-6 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-24288-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Dedicated to the past and present victims of counter-state and
especially state terrorism

CONTENTS
Introduction ...............................................................................................................1
1 The Concept of Modern Terrorism .................................................................9
Defining Modern Terrorism .........................................................................9
Official Definitions of Terrorism ..............................................................16
Scholarly Definitions of Terrorism...........................................................28
Redefining Terrorism ...................................................................................32
2 Classification of Modern Terrorism ..............................................................43
Typologies of Modern Terrorism ..............................................................43
State and Counter-State Terrorism ..........................................................51
Forms of State Terrorism........................................................................51
Instances of Counter-State Terrorism ................................................83
Other Types of Terrorism ...........................................................................85
3 Anti-Modernity and Modern Terrorism ...................................................101
What Causes and Justifies Terrorism in Western and
non-Western Societies? ......................................................................101
A Sociological Framework for Analyzing Modern Terrorism ........106
Modernity, Anti-Modernity, and Pre-Modernity Revisited .......114
Anti-Modernity and Modern Terrorism ..............................................120
Societal and Historical Conditions of Anti-Modernity
and Terrorism ..................................................................................122
Dimensions of Anti-Modernity and Modern Terrorism .................127
Appendix
3.1  A Simple Model of Anti-Modernity and
Modern Terror ...............................................................................133
3.2 Defining Terrorism and Government ......................................136
4 Anti-Liberalism and Modern Terrorism ...................................................161
Antagonism toward Liberal-Democratic Modernity
as the Factor of Modern Terrorism .................................................161
Conservative Anti-Liberalism and Terrorism ....................................171
Fascism and Terrorism .............................................................................190
Religious Fundamentalism and Terrorism .........................................195
viii contents
Opposition to Liberal Democracy and Terrorism .............................199
Antagonism to Political Pluralism and Culture Diversity
and Terrorism ..................................................................................203
Summary: Anti-Liberalism and Modern Terrorism .....................205
5 Anti-Secularism and Modern Terrorism ...................................................209
Antagonism toward Secular Modernity as the Factor
of Modern Terrorism ..........................................................................209
Theocratic Revolt and Terrorism ...........................................................219
From Theological Orthodoxy to Terrorism through
Theocratic Revolt .................................................................................235
World Religions and Terrorism Revisited............................................240
6 Anti-Rationalism and Modern Terrorism .................................................253
Antagonism toward Rationalistic Modernity as the Factor
of Modern Terrorism ..........................................................................253
Irrationalism and Terrorism ...................................................................259
Superstition, Fanaticism and Terrorism .........................................262
The Anti-Enlightenment and Terrorism .........................................264
Religious Anti-Rationalism and Terrorism–Factors of
“Holy” Terror .........................................................................................268
Total and Unconditional Submission of Humans
to “God’s Kingdom on Earth” .......................................................269
“True Believers” Versus “Infidels” ......................................................274
Denial and Suppression of Individual Liberties ...........................277
Religious Revolution and “Holy” War ..............................................281
Anti-Modernism and Anti-Progressivism ......................................291
Religious Irrationalism—Fanaticism and “Holy”
Madness ............................................................................................293
7 Anti-Globalism and Modern Terrorism ....................................................299
Antagonism toward Global-Cosmopolitan Modernity
as the Factor of Modern Terrorism .................................................299
Global-Cosmopolitan “Utopia”, Anti-Globalism,
and Terrorism ..................................................................................300
Anti-Cosmopolitanism and Terrorism ................................................313
Global-Cosmopolitan Society and Its Enemies
and Global Terror .................................................................................323
Societal Closure and Terrorism ..............................................................333
Nationalism and Terrorism ................................................................335
contents ix
Conclusions ...........................................................................................................347
Modernism, Anti-Modernism, and Modern Terrorism ...................347
Summary ......................................................................................................354
The Present/Future Vicious Circle of Anti-Liberalism and
Terrorism and How to Break It.........................................................361
References ..............................................................................................................373
Index ........................................................................................................................387