The Structural Signification of Terrorism

This chapter argues that one of the central debates within Terrorism Studies will never be resolved: that of an agreed upon, objective definition. Several Terrorism Studies scholars believe that Terrorism Studies would be better off if it arrived at an objective definition for terrorism. Yet, this chapter demonstrates that how terrorism is largely understood is dependent upon various social structures, including gender, race, and heteronormativity. Thus, a thicker understanding of terrorism would acknowledge that it is an essentially contested concept or as an ‘utterance’. An agreed upon definition would present only a thin understanding, erasing the social structures that shape our understanding. Therefore, the chapter relies upon the concept of ‘aphasia,’ or calculated forgettings, from Critical Race theory. This concept holds that Western thought and society has purposefully forgotten how race and racialisation work to deny people of colour many things, including rationality, intelligence, and agency. Gender and heteronormativity operate in a similar way. Such operations infect all areas of life—the purpose of this chapter is to look at terrorism.