A lot of heated rhetoric surrounding the Austin bomber--who thankfully won't be hurting anyone anymore--and whether or not he was a terrorist. I teach classes on terrorism, and here's a thread why it's unclear (based on what we know now) and why the classification matters. 1/x
-
-
I'd also add that as a society we've given this word disproportionate power. Thus this ever present post-event label fight. But you've IDed the reason for the label well: preventative strategy.
-
That's what I'm trying to push back against. Using terrorism as a synonym for "thing I don't like" or "thing that scares people" or even "violent action" robs the word of utility. If it's used that broadly, then it has no effective meaning.
- 3 more replies
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.