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Political Terrorism : a Conceptual and Theoretical Framework / by Eric Bibliothkque nationale du Cmada Acquisiti: ~s and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Services Branch des services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Welitngton Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (Ontarlo) KIA ON4 K1A ON4 NOTICE AVlS 'The quality of this microform is La qualit6 de cette microforme heavily dependent upon the d6pend grandement de la qualit6 quality of the original thesis de la these sournise au submitted for microfilming. microfilmage. Nous avons tout Every effort has been made to fait pour assurer une qualite ensure the highest quality of supbrieure de reproduction. reproduction possible. If pages are missing, contact the S'il manque des pages, veuillez university which granted the communiquer avec I'universitk degree. qui a conf@rele grade. Some pages may have indistinct La qualit6 d'irnpression de print especially if the original certaines pages peut laisser a pages were typed with a poor desirer, surtout si les pages typewriter ribbon or if the originales ont 4t4 university sent us an inferior dactylographiees I'aide d'un photocopy. ruban us4 ou si I'universite nous a fait parvenir une photocopie de qualit6 inferieure. Reproduction in full or in part of La reproduction, merne partielie, this microform Is governed by de cette mIcrc?formees% SOU~ES~ the Canadian Copyright Act, & la Loi caaaadienne sur le droit R.S.C. 1970, c. C-30, and d'auteur, SRC 1970, c. CSO, et subsequent amendments. ses amendements subsequents. Eric Christopher Tompkins B,A. Simon Fraser University, 1989 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Criminology @ Eric Christopher Tompkins SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY October, 1992 A91 rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission df the author. National Library BIblioth&que nationale +Iof Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Services Branch des services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (Ontario) KIA ON4 K! A ON4 YW h~ \'mu r~':c?ri?tw Our Irk Notre ref&mc The author has granted an Lbuuteur a accord@ une licence irrevocable non-exclusive licence irrhVlocable et nan exclusive allowing the National Library d perrnettant B la ibliothdqua Canada to reproduce, loan, nationale du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, prRer, distsibuer ou - his/her thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or format, making de quelque rnaniBre et sous this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce solt pour persons. rnettre des exempiaives de cette these 21 la disposition des personnes intdress6es. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la propriet6 d the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui prothge sa Neither the thesis nor substantial thhe. Ni la thhe ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent Btre imprimes ou his/her permission. autrernent reproduits sans son - autorisation. ISBN 0-315-93065-8 Name : Eric Christopher Tompkins Degree : Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Political Terrorism: A Conceptual and Theoretical. Framework Examining Committee: Chairperson: Simon Verdun-Jones, J.S.D. - - ~aymonaCorrado, Ph.D. Professor Senior Supervisor Robert J. Menzies, Ph.D. Associate Professor I Paul V. Warwick,Ph.D. External Examines Professor Department of Political Science Simon Fraser University PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which Is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the I ibrary of any other university, or other educational instihtion, on its own behalf or for one ~f its users. I further agree that pernission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. it is understood that copying or publication of this work far financial gain shal I not be allowed without my written permission. Political Terrorism: A Conceptual and Theoretical Framework Author: (signature) ErSc Christopher TompkSns t name 1 (date 1 The -thesis presents a holistic examination of the antecedents of political terrorism. It begins with a conceptual analysis of political terrorism from which a definition and typology are constructed. Then it proceeds systematically to develop a theoretical framework which is elaboratedthr~ughan in-depth analysis of substantive issues. The concept and subsequent definition of political terrorism reveal a number of fundamental characteristics, namely: (1) the presence of extreme violence; (2) the communication to an audience distinct from the immediate victim; and (3) an intention to produce fear and anxiety in the targetted audience. Terrorism as both a clandestine strategy and a group activity were identified as secondary characteristics. Because of the potential vastness of the topic, the scope of the thesis is limited to anti-state and state terrorism from which two analytic models are explicated. Both models present specific propositions concerning structural preconditions, organizational dynamics, ideology and individual motivation within an historical context. The variable conditions within which political terrorism is found make it difficult to advance widely generalizable assertions; however, from this thesis a number af coneiuslons can be made, Among them: (1) Political and economic oppression is a precondition of brth state and anti-state iii political terrorism; (2) The characteristics and dynamics of social organization can either promote or mitigate tte likelihood that political terrorism will occur; and (3) Ideology plays a fundamental role in both justifying and facilitating political terrorism. I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Ray Corrado for his assistance and encouragement. His guidance through the seemingly endless maze of conceptual and theoretical problems proved invaluable. Thanks are also due to Dr. Robert Menzies whose insight and comments concerning epistemology and social theory were extremely helpful. I would especially like to thank my family for their support - in particular, my wife Lindy for her encouragement and understanding. Table of Contents Title Page ......................,....**..*..,.,. i Approval Page ....................................... ii Abstract ...................,.,...............,..... iii Acknowledgements .................................... v Table of Contents . ...................,..........,,,, vi List of Tables ................................... x List of Figures ..................................... xi Introduction ..................e..-...e.*.+*..e..w xii Footnotes ......................................... xviii CHAPTER 1 THE CONCEPT OF TERRORISM ................. 1 Ontological Considerations ................ 1 Definitional Criteria ..................... 3 A Critique of Two Current Definitions ..... 6 Terrorism Defined .......................=a17 A Typology of Political Terrorism ........ 20 Nan-state Terrorism .................. 21 Anti-State Terrorism ................. 22 State Terrorism ..................... 28 Metatheoretical Issues .................... 32 Summary and ConcPusion .................... 37 Footnotes ...............................,. 38 CHAPTER 2 POLITICAL TERRORISM: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................ 39 History. Conflict. and Terrorism .......... 40 Model Development ......................... Anti-State Terrorism Model ............... State Terrorism Model .................... Summary and Conclusion .................... Fo~tnotes................................. CHAPTER 3 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS: THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM ........................... European Expansionism .................... Intra-state Conflict ................. Anti-colonial Conflict ............... Latin America: The Transformation of Control ............................... From European Colonialism to U.S. Imperialism .......................... Irish Terrorism .......................... Summary and Conclusion .................... CHAPTER 4 IDEOLOGICAL ANTECEDENTS OF TERRORISM ..... The Concept of Ideology ................... Eurocentrism: The Ideology of Racial and Cultural Domination ....................... From Ideas to Revalutionary Action ........ The Enlightenment .................... The French Revolution ................ Marxism and Praxis ................... Ideological Convergence ................... Nationalism ......................... 108 Revolution in Latin America ......... 109 Liberation Theology .................. 113 Summary and Conclusion .................... 115 Footnotes ................................. 118 CHAPTER 5 THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD .................. 3.19 The Development of Soviet State Terrorism .....................=.I... 119 The Evolution of Nazi Terrorism: Structure and Process ..................... 122 Historical Preconditions ............. 122 Ideology ............................. 125 The Global Expansion of Authoritarianism .......................... 128 The Dynamics. of Political Terrorism in Latin America ............................. 129 Modernization and Development: From Theory to Policy ................ 130 The Failure of Industrialization ..... 131 Modernization and Terrorism Under the New Global Order ................. 135 Ideology and
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