POLS 5179, CEU, Winter Term 2023
Instructor: Matthijs Bogaards
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Central European University E-mail: BogaardsM@ceu.edu
Office: QS 409
Classes: Fridays, 10.50-12.30
Office hours during winter term: TBA Credits: 2 CEU credits, 4 ECTS credits.
Course description
This MA course introduces students to the academic study of terrorism, with a focus on the political aspects of domestic terrorism. It conceptualizes terrorists and terrorist groups as actors whose actions should be understood within the context of a country’s political system. A leading question for analysts and policy makers is: Can political institutions tame the threat of terrorism? The course covers a wide variety of themes, including the causes of terrorism, the development of terrorism over time, types of terrorism, regime type and terrorism, and state terrorism.
Course requirements
In selecting the reading, an effort has been made to keep the elective course accessible to students from a broad range of programs. Students are expected to attend all seminars and to be prepared. If you are unable to attend class, you should notify the instructor via e-mail prior to the session.
Assessment
Five reflections (10% each, 50% total)
Active seminar participation (10%)
Research paper (40%)
Each student writes five “reflections” of 500 word maximum, everything included. In this essay, the student reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of one of the mandatory readings for that week. Each
reflection should contain the following elements: 1) a summary of the argument and evidence in the publication; 2) a reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the analysis (theory, methods, data, coherence and consistency of argument, accuracy of analysis, conclusions); 3) an outlook or agenda for future research on the topic (for example, on ways in which the analysis can be extended in space and time, additional variables, additional hypotheses, links to other bodies of literature, policy implications, etc.). The paper should devote roughly the same space to each of the three elements. Reflections are due on midnight the day before class (so, on Thursday 24.00 CET) and should be uploaded on Moodle.
Reflections can be submitted for weeks 1 to 10. It is possible to submit an additional, sixth, reflection. In that case, the grades for the five best reflections count towards the final grade for the course.
The final paper is an individual, original, research paper on a particular aspect of terrorism. The word limit is 2,000, everything included. The due date will be determined in consultation with the class.
Active class participation is expected and graded. Some tips: participate regularly, make informed contributions, focus on the main points, formulate clearly, respond to others in the discussion, and demonstrate critical engagement.
Please note that for all assessments, late submission and violation of the word or time limit will result in a lower grade. All written work should be uploaded on Turnitin and will be checked for plagiarism.
Reading material
All the course material is available in electronic form. The syllabus contains the required reading.
Additional reading is suggested on a week-by-week basis.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student should be able to:
Understand the specific challenges posed by terrorism to open societies and democratic states;
Reflect critically on the concept of terrorism;
Understand the causes, conditions, and consequences of terrorism;
Assess arguments about the impact of political institutions on the prevention, mitigation, and termination of terrorism;
Summarize arguments, assess evidence, and formulate an opinion;
Find, select, summarize, analyze, and incorporate relevant reading;
Communicate effectively their informed opinion on the topics covered in class.
Course schedule
Week 1 (Jan. 13) Introduction: What is Terrorism?
The introductory session aims to clarify the concept of terrorism.
Reading:
Hoffman, Bruce (2006) Inside Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press, pp.1-41 (Chapter 1:
Defining Terrorism).
Week 2 (Jan. 20) Research on Terrorism
This session provides an up-to-date overview of research on terrorism.
Reading:
Chenoweth, Erica and Andreas Gofas (2019) The Study of Terrorism: Achievements and Challenges Ahead, In Erica Chenoweth, Richard English, Andreas Gofas, and Stathis Kalyvas (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.1-8.
Ahmed, Yasmine and Orla Lynch (forthcoming) Terrorism Studies and the Far Right: The State of Play, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, available online first at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2021.1956063
Week 3 (Jan. 27) Data on Terrorism
This week introduces students to the largest publicly available data set on terrorism, allowing us to get familiar with the main trends and patterns.
Reading:
Gary LaFree, Laura Dugan, and Erin Miller (2015) Putting Terrorism in Context: Lessons from the Global Terrorism Database. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.12-26 (Chapter 2: The Creation of the Global Terrorism Database).
Hou, Dongfang, Khusrav Gaibulloev, and Todd Sandler (2020) Introducing Extended Data on Terrorist Groups (EDTG), 1970 to 2016, Journal of Conflict Resolution 64(1): 199-225.
Week 4 (Feb. 3) State terrorism
Can states be terrorists? Even if so, how analytically useful is the concept of state terrorism?
Reading:
Jarvis, Lee and Michael Lister (2014) State Terrorism Research and Critical Terrorism Studies: An Assessment, Critical Studies on Terrorism 7(1): 43-61.
Philip Johnson (2019) The Crime and State Terrorism Nexus: How Organized Crime Appropriates Counterinsurgency Violence, Perspectives on Terrorism 13(6): 16-26.
Week 5 (Feb. 10) Terrorist Communication (Guest lecture by former CEU student Tanja Hansen) Many terrorist attacks are never claimed. Why not?
Reading:
Tanja Hansen (forthcoming) Time is of the Essence: Temporality and Competition as Drivers of Terrorist Credit-Taking, Terrorism and Political Violence, available online first at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2022.2035364
Week 6 (Feb. 17) The Causes of Terrorism What do we know about the causes of terrorism?
Reading:
Crenshaw, Martha (2011) Explaining Terrorism: Causes, Processes and Consequences. London: Routledge, 34-50 (Chapter 2: The Causes of Terrorism).
Franc, Renata and Tomislav Pavlović (forthcoming) Inequality and Radicalisation: Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies, Terrorism and Political Violence, available online first at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2021.1974845
Week 7 (Feb. 24) Waves of terrorism
How can we make sense of the history of terrorism and what does this tell us about the future?
Reading:
Honig, Or and Ido Yahel (2019) A Fifth Wave of Terrorism? The Emergence of Terrorist Semi-States, Terrorism and Political Violence 31(6): 1210-1228.
Kaplan, Jeffrey (2021) Waves of Political Terrorism, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, available at:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1017/S0022381613000984
Week 8 (March 3) Eco-Terrorism (Guest lecture by former CEU student João Raphael da Silva) TBC Is “Eco-Terrorism” really a novel type of terrorism and if so, how serious is it?
Reading:
João Raphael da Silva (2020) The Eco-Terrorist Wave, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression 12(3): 203-216.
Olumba, Ezenwa (forthcoming) The Politics of Eco-Violence: Why is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt? Terrorism and Political Violence, available online first at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2022.2129015
Week 9 (March 10) Terrorism and Democracy
Why is there a positive correlation between democracy and terrorism?
Reading:
Weinberg, Leon (2013) Democracy and Terrorism: Friend or Foe? London: Routledge, pp.63-78 (Chapter 5: Terrorism and the Arab Spring).
Stanton, Jessica (2017) Terrorism in the Context of Civil War, Journal of Politics 75(4): 1009-1022.
Week 10 (March 17) Terrorism and Consensus Democracy
There is a lot of evidence that consensus democracies are “kinder and gentler”. Are they also less prone to terrorism? The evidence is contested.
Reading:
Bogaards, Matthijs (2020) Kinder, Gentler, Safer? A Re-examination of the Relationship between Consensus Democracy and Domestic Terrorism, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43(10): 886-903.
Qvortrup, Matt (2020) The Logic of Domestic Terrorism Revisited: A Response to a Critic, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43(10): 904-909.
Bogaards, Matthijs (2020) Coding, Concessions, Conclusions: A Reply to Matt Qvortrup, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43(10): 910-912.
Week 11 (March 24) Discussion of paper topics
This week we discuss your ideas for the final paper. In preparation for this session, please share a 150- word abstract of your paper on Moodle by midnight of the day before class.
Week 12 (March 31) On-demand class
This week, students decide on the topic and suggest the reading.
