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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Teaching “Terrorism”:Pedagogical Perspectives

and Problems

Eric DavisRutgers University

emdavis@rci.rutgers.edu<http://fas-polisci.rutgers.edu>

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

What rubric do we use when teaching about “terrorism”?

Terrorism needs to be well defined: what exactly do we mean when we use the term?

Terrorism may be defined as the ideologically driven use of indiscriminate violence against civilian populations for political ends

Terrorism must be understood relationally and contextually, not as an abstract concept; it happens for a specific reasons

Terrorism needs to be understood historically Terrorism must be understood in dynamic terms; as a

process undergoing constant change in ideology, goals, tactics and in the membership of groups that support it

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

How do we teach about terrorism and the global war on terror (GWOT) without instilling fear in our students? How can we empower, not intimidate, students when teaching about terrorism?

How do we teach about terrorism/GWOT without undermining respect for civil liberties and democratic values and processes?

How can we avoid overwhelming students when teaching a topic which by definition is global in nature? How much do they need to know?

What are the main questions we should raise in teaching the topic of terrorism?

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Terrorism and Stereotypes How do avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes when

teaching about terrorism, particularly about specific religions and ethnic groups, e.g., Muslims, Arabs, Iranians?

How do we avoid associating the phenomenon of terrorism with Islam? Should terrorism be seen as an Islamic problem?

How do we answer the assertion that the majority of terrorist activity occurs in the Middle East?

How can we draw upon quantitative indicators to disprove stereotypes about terrorism? For example, what percent of Muslims actually engage in terrorist activities?

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

How can we draw upon comparative historical analysis to improve the teaching of terrorism? How can drawing on American history help students better contextualize the study of terrorism?

Do the Salem witch trials, for example, constitute a form of terrorism (against women)?

Addressing the Problem of Stereotypes

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Addressing the Problems of Stereotypes Can we draw upon the assassination of US presidents to help us teach about the concept of

terrorism? What was the political atmosphere of late 19th and early 20th century America? Attacks by anarchists on courthouses, police stations, churches, and private homes led

Woodrow Wilson to warn (1915) of: “hyphenated Americans who have poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life. Such creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy must be crushed out (sic).” This led to Palmer Raids (1919)

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Lynching of African-Americans was a common occurrence in the American South after the end of Reconstruction (2522 lynchings, 1889-1918)

Was not this period an example of terrorism according to the definition provided above?

Terrorism in American History

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

The Role of the Tamil Tigers in Promoting Terrorism

LTTE – Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam – founded 1976,began terrorist operations in 1983; first suicide attack in 1987 Used suicide bomber to kill Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 A Marxist organization (namely secular), LTTE has carried out more suicide bombings than any other terrorist group in the world Group has recruited from Hindus living in Sri Lanka who seek to establish a Tamil state

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Suicide Car Bombings in Iraq How much do they tell us about Iraqi society? Or do they promote

stereotypes about Iraq? Large majority of Iraqis pro-democracy and anti-sectarian Long tradition of cross-ethnic cooperation in Iraqi nationalist movement

prior to the rule of Saddam Husayn and the Bacth Party No suicide bombings in Iraq before US invasion of 2003

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Female suicide bombers in Chechnya

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Why do people become terrorists?

Poverty (social class) is a poor predictor as Fareed Zakaria’s The Future of Freedom, and Robert Pape’s Dying to Win: The Logic of Suicide Terrorism indicate

Terrorists often well educated and secular (Zakaria) Pape argues that main goals to force what they consider

foreign forces to leave their soil, e.g., West Bank, Iraq, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, but this ignores several variables

Central role of migration and education in promoting terrorism; breakdown of agrarian sector and expansion of education (particularly by populist regimes)

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

Education and Empowerment Education is not necessarily correlated with support for democratic values, especially in authoritarian societieswhich are supported by the West Education can promote feelings of anger and powerlessness when there no perceived hope for the future The well-to-do (Bin Laden is the exception that proves the rule) and the very poor are not the primary recruits to terrorist organizations Terrorists often view their activities as a vehicle for empowerment, suggesting important psychological processes at work

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Center for Middle Eastern StudiesRutgers University

The future of terrorist organizations Terrorist organizations share an important weakness:

Ideological rigidity, e.g., rejection of Islamic State of Iraq/ al-Qa’ida in Iraq by Sunni Arabs in al-Anbar and Diyala provinces

People reject strict rules that are largely cultural, e.g., regulating dress, banning tobacco, alcohol and music, confining women to the public sphere, the arbitrariness of “laws” formulated by terrorist organizations

Tendency towards internecine war among terrorist groups Olivier Roy distinguishes Islamo-nationalism from trans-

national Islam; spectacle without defined political ends Can conclude that terrorist groups will continue actions, but

not be able to seize power in Middle East or elsewhere