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207543

The necessity of "terror"

Elleke Boehmer

pp. 139-153

Abstract

The rhetoric and the realities of terror and terrorism press heavily upon the world around us. In this hyper-mediatized age, acts of terror almost immediately transmute into media events, and so appear ubiquitous, all-encompassing, all-justifying, and, moreover, are absorbed into the rituals of the everyday (Houen 2002; Zulaika and Douglass 1996). To demonstrate a radical political commitment means — perhaps more than ever before — to take a stand on our complicity, or our refusal of complicity, with "terrorist" formations.

Publication details

Published in:

Özden Fırat Begüm, De Mul Sarah, van Wichelen Sonja (2009) Commitment and complicity in cultural theory and practice. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 139-153

DOI: 10.1057/9780230236967_8

Full citation:

Boehmer Elleke (2009) „The necessity of "terror"“, In: B. Özden Fırat, S. De Mul & S. Van Wichelen (eds.), Commitment and complicity in cultural theory and practice, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 139–153.