Publication date:
06 September 2012Length of book:
264 pagesPublisher
Pluto PressISBN-13: 9781849647496
This is a pioneering critical intervention into the study of terrorism, language and political thought. Challenging the commonly held idea that ‘suicide-bombings’ are motivated by a nihilistic hatred of life, this book argues that it is more helpful to examine such violent agency through the concept of ‘sacrifice’.
Through a unique look at the way ‘sacrifice’ is used in the Arabic language, this book offers penetrating insights into jihadi thought. How does it compare to western political theorists such as Machiavelli and von Clausewitz, Hannah Arendt, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler?
Concluding that the heedless certainty of such violence undermines attempts to redress political grievances, Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice goes beyond simplistic or apologetic explanations of terrorism and allows the authentic jihadi voice to speak for itself.
Through a unique look at the way ‘sacrifice’ is used in the Arabic language, this book offers penetrating insights into jihadi thought. How does it compare to western political theorists such as Machiavelli and von Clausewitz, Hannah Arendt, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler?
Concluding that the heedless certainty of such violence undermines attempts to redress political grievances, Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice goes beyond simplistic or apologetic explanations of terrorism and allows the authentic jihadi voice to speak for itself.
'Excellent. An intelligent, nuanced and innovative analysis of a key phenomenon of our times. Melissa Finn takes the scholarly debate on transnational terrorism into the next phase by critically unpacking Al-Qaeda's thought, phraseology, and logic of political violence'