Seminar, Tuesday, 15-17 hrs, Seminarraum 15, Department of Philosophy, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52A, 8th floor
 

TERRORISM AND INTERNATIONAL POWER POLITICS

(with information visit to the Philippines)

Description:

The seminar will deal with general theoretical issues related to terrorism and power politics (e.g. the definition of terrorism as an aspect of power politics; the application of double standards in the classification of movements as "terrorist;" terrorism and national interest; terrorism in the context of an imperial – or neo-colonial – world order; terrorism and North-South relations, etc.) and with specific regional issues (e.g. the phenomenon of terrorism in the Philippines, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Latin America – in connection with local and/or regional conflicts that are in turn reinforced as a result of international power politics). Special attention will be given to terrorist violence and (supposed or real) terrorist threats along the fault lines between the Western and Muslim worlds. An excursion to South-East Asia should help the participants to better situate the global discourse on terrorism in the actual context of power politics from which it cannot be separated. The seminar should also strive to identify some of the root causes of terrorism (e.g. unbalanced power relations, colonization or re-colonization, foreign occupation, social injustice). International violence (whether in the form of state action or acts of terrorism by non-state actors) should be located in the complex framework of global power relations. The seminar should contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon of terrorism in the concrete socio-economic, political and cultural context in which specific acts of violence occur – so as to get away from a merely abstract understanding of terrorism (which is often the result of a refusal to identify the specific grievances that underlie acts of violence). In each particular case, a legal evaluation and classification of "terrorism" has to be complemented by a comprehensive analysis of the social background of the phenomenon (so as to deal with the root causes of each specific form of violence). Refusal to do so may result in the eternalization of an abstract  – and thus  mystified – "terrorist threat" to the "civilized world" as such.

Selected literature and document sources:

Modus:

Each participant has to choose a specific subtopic. (The list of subtopics will be established in the course of the preparatory session.) On each subtopic a lecture is to be presented which will be followed by a question and answer session. A summary of the presentation should be handed out at the beginning of each lecture meeting. A written paper on the topic of the lecture is to be prepared until the end of the semester (30 June 2004). An excursion – in the form of a fact-finding mission – to a country of the South-East Asian region is planned for the first half of June. The excursion will be an integral part of the seminar's programme. Two participants shall prepare a case study on the country to be chosen for the excursion. They will jointly be in charge of a briefing session upon the beginning of the excursion. (Their briefing document will be in lieu of a seminar paper.) Participation in the regular weekly sessions (March to May) and in the excursion (approx. 10 days in June) is mandatory.

Seminar assistant: Mr. Christoph Wurnitsch

Preparatory session: 9 March 2004.

Interdisciplinary seminar for students of philosophy, theology, political science, and law. Personal registration required.