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6 - Terrorism, History and Neighbouring Disciplines in the Academy

from Part II - Frameworks and Definitions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2021

Richard English
Affiliation:
Queen's University Belfast
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Summary

Terrorism is a complicated phenomenon with a long and complex history. Analytically it is a difficult issue to grasp, dissect and analyse, to evaluate and respond to. As a consequence of this complexity, different academic disciplines ask different questions on terrorism. Historians could be seen as the generalists in the field of Terrorism Studies. Motivated by many questions that are also asked in other disciplines, they are intrigued by the complexities that define terrorism, its long-term patterns, changes and continuities, but also by very detailed case studies of individual incidents, groups, responses and characters. It will be the purpose of this chapter to look at what history can offer for the study of terrorism, how interdisciplinarity can be fruitful, what new themes and approaches can be developed by venturing beyond traditional division lines of established disciplines, and finally, to assess the limitations of multidisciplinarity in terrorism research. Thereby, hopefully, this text will encourage further academic cross-fertilisation to advance all our understanding of the puzzle that is terrorism.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Dietze, C. and Verhoeven, C., The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014)Google Scholar
Elman, C. and Fendius Elman, M. (eds.), Bridges and Boundaries: Historians, Political Scientists, and the Study of International Relations, BCSIA Studies in International Security (Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2001)Google Scholar
Lawson, G., ‘The Eternal Divide? History and International Relations’, European Journal of International Relations 18/2 (1 June 2012)Google Scholar
Lutz, B. J., ‘Historical Approaches to Terrorism’, in Chenoweth, E., English, R., Gofas, A. and Kalyvas, S. N. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism, pp. 193206 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019)Google Scholar
R. C. Williams, , The Historian’s Toolbox: A Student’s Guide to the Theory and Craft of History (Armonk, NY, M. E. Sharpe, 2012)Google Scholar

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