Endorsements

This book is about states' use of 'terrorism' to label others, especially specific groups within their own political territories and how such usage is legitimated. The two contexts examined are British labelling of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the 1970s-1990s and Nepal's use of 'terrorism' to describe Maoists in the post-9/11 era. The first part of the book situates it within scholarship on states and 'terrorists', two terms that are not often studied together in Terrorism Studies. Then, a rhetorical analytical approach to studying official representations of IRA and Maoists as 'terrorist' is provided. This is followed by empirical analysis of Nepal and Northern Ireland, and then a chapter which draws attention to the politics of representing others as 'terrorist' in the United States in the context of the 'war on terror'. The book emphasises how rhetorical practices and ways of describing others exhibit similarities across geographical regions and before and after 9/11. As such, discussions of there being a 'new terrorism' need to take into account that states have been using similar representational strategies to label and marginalise others as 'terrorist'. The book suggests that the variability of 'terrorism' allows states to establish and legitimate specific practices against others, but it could also be a source for resistance, as in the case of Nepal. This book will be valuable for scholars and students of critical terrorism studies, those who study the state and its identity-formation and scholars of Nepal and small states in the international system. It will also be of use to those interested in rhetorical analysis and media/cultural studies. -