A case for the abolition of “terrorism” and its industry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Amidst a decolonial turn, the question of how to study “terrorism”, a concept deeply entrenched in racial, gendered, and colonial structures, becomes increasingly imperative. Whilst calls for developing a “Decolonial Terrorism Studies” have already been made, I argue that a truly decolonial approach towards the study of terrorism needs to reject such a call and instead acknowledge the irredeemability of “terrorism” as a legitimate category of political violence. As I argue here, Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) needs to engage with decolonial approaches if it wants to continue constituting the counter hegemonic challenge to Terrorism Studies it set out to provide upon its inception. However, calling for a “decolonisation” of the discipline is contradicting such an approach and, as I argue, rooted in the assumption that the category “terrorism” can be reclaimed. I call instead for its abolition. “Terrorism” needs to be acknowledged as a construct that carries racial, gendered, and colonial implications and assumptions whose utterance alone constitutes a form of violence which always perpetuates those implications. Thus, the purpose of CTS, especially if it is to adopt decolonial approaches, should be to interrogate in what ways the concept “terrorism” functions to work for the project of Western colonial-modernity. It should not be how (Critical) Terrorism Studies can rebrand as “decolonial”. Following from this, the ultimate goal for CTS scholars should be to contribute to the abolition of “terrorism” as a term and Terrorism Studies and its industry as a whole.