BOOK REVIEW: A Genealogy of Terrorism: Colonial Law and the Origins of an Idea & The UN and Counter-Terrorism: Global Hegemonies, Power and Identities

Abstract

Since the mid-2000s, scholars have been using critical theory, poststructuralism, feminism/ queer theory, and postcolonialism to critique the hegemonic narrative of terrorism. They analyze how terrorism discourse (re)produces global hierarchies and power relations. This involves archeological and genealogical research, assessing the formation of the terrorism discourse by analyzing how the peculiar Western discourse has become hegemonic. By incorporating postcolonial and genealogical studies into critical terrorism studies, McQuade and Martini attempt to explain this process in their respective works. Their books are complementary in that they allow readers to trace the historical development of the concept of terrorism from British India to its ubiquity in international institutions. Although they cover different historical periods, it is still possible to see how the concept of terrorism has been used in both of those historical periods – during British colonialism in India in McQuade’s book and after the 1980s in Martini’s book – to normalize discriminatory practices against (post)colonial societies.

Keywords

Critical Theory, Postcolonialism, Hegemonic Narrative, Terrorism Discourse, Global Hierarchies, British Colonialism, International Institutions

Citation

Tuncer Beyribey, “Joseph McQuade, A Genealogy of Terrorism: Colonial Law and the Origins of an Idea (Cambridge University Press, 2021) & Alice Martini, The UN and Counter-Terrorism: Global Hegemonies, Power and Identities (Routledge, 2021)”, Uluslararasi Iliskiler, Advanced Online Publication, 20 May 2023, pp. 1-4.

Affiliations

• Tuncer Beyribey, Dr., Researcher