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Social Science Discourse and the Biopolitics of Terrorism
Author(s) -
Blain Michael
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12246
Subject(s) - biopower , terrorism , sociology , power (physics) , elite , politics , islam , social science , epistemology , criminology , environmental ethics , political science , law , history , philosophy , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics
This article weaves social science discourse into the fabric of a genealogy of terrorism. The power struggles associated with the US lead global war on terrorism are producing many new objects of knowledge and possible lines of research (e.g., Islamic terrorists, jihadists, suicide bombers, experts on counterterrorism, and ISIS). This process is modeled as a cycle involving power struggles and power elite orchestrated political victimage rituals and a biopolitics of knowledge. This dynamic is explored in terms of social science discourse and the biopolitics of terrorism. The limits of current thinking in “counterterrorism” and the possibilities of future research are highlighted.