Terrorism

Module code: CR2025

What are the factors that motivate and sustain terrorist organisations? What is the role of counter-terrorism measures and culture in contemporary controversies, such as the infringement of civil liberties?

Many scholars have drawn on the medical model and used the metaphor of a disease to describe terrorism. It has even been referred to as a ‘cancer’ that grows and spreads its malignancy throughout society. This metaphor dates as far back as the 1980s and yet the ‘disease’ seems as vicious and perhaps as ‘incurable’ as ever. This module will provide you with a broad historical, theoretical and contemporary understanding of the fundamental issues relating to the world of terrorism. You’ll be thinking critically about the key concepts of terrorism and how it is defined.

You’ll contemplate moral issues that terrorism can give rise to in democratic societies, critique the main counterterrorism measures, and assess contemporary controversies such as the infringement of civil liberties.