Genealogies of Terrorism

the long version

Genealogies of terrorism is an empirically grounded and philosophically rigorous critical history with important political implications. Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson examines what we do when we name something terrorism, investigating the conditions under which uses of this contested term become meaningful and the mechanisms of social and political exclusion that it enables. Tracing discourses and practices of terrorism from the French Revolution to late imperial Russia, colonized Algeria, and the post-9/11 United States, Erlenbusch-Anderson offers a powerful critique of the power relations that shape how we understand and theorize political violence.