Social Dynamics of Terrorism

Effective strategies for avoiding the projected “legitimation crisis” presuppose the clarification and resolution of issues regarding the definition, causation, and justification of political violence. It is proposed that terrorism be defined as an ideology or strategy justifying terror—defined as lethal or nonlethal violence intended to deter political opposition by maximizing fear, specifically by random targeting. On causation, it is argued that terrorism is to be explained as the product not of discrete causes but rather of systemic processes generated in functional and interactive relationships of inequality. Examples of relational dynamics encouraging groups to adopt terrorism are considered. Such dynamics encouraging groups to adopt terrorism are considered. Such dynamics are found to vary among as well as within authority structures. Terrorism is more likely to appear in totalitarian structures, but acts of terror are more frequent in democratic structures, which is largely attributable to the dissemination of terrorist ideologies, the displacement of political conflicts to freer settings, and the propensity of totalitarian governments to sponsor terror elsewhere. Terrorism and terror are associated with the breakdown of traditional authority structures and with efforts to create modern ones. Regarding issues of justification, it is concluded that terrorism and terror are unjustifiable on empirical grounds.