Jeff McMahan
Search for other papers by Jeff McMahan in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMedClose
War, terrorism and the ‘war on terror’
in ‘War on terror’
Chapter DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7765/9780719095184.00017
Online Publication Date:
16 May 2016
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

Acts of terrorism are intentional efforts to kill or seriously harm innocent people as a means of affecting other members of a group with which the immediate victims are identified. Because terrorism involves intentionally killing the innocent, it can be morally justified, only in conditions of extremity. The substantive sense of the term gives a criterion of liability to attack. According to the regnant version of the theory of the just war, the criterion of liability to attack is posing a threat to another. Terrorists themselves often claim to be combatants, particularly when they are captured, since they would like to be accorded prisoner of war status. There are general differences between terrorists as a class and ordinary domestic criminals that tend to make anti-terrorist action rather different from domestic police action. The George W. Bush administration claims that terrorists are enemy combatants in its 'war on terror'.
  • Collapse
  • Expand

‘War on terror’

The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2006

Editor:
Chris Miller
eISBN:
9780719095184
Publisher:
Manchester University Press
Cover ‘War on terror’
Subjects:
Sociology
Keywords:
civilians; counter-terrorism; fatwa; human-rights; innocents; international law; Islamic law; sexual violence; terrorism; trauma; war
Page Count:
305
Publisher:
Manchester University Press

Series: Oxford Amnesty Lectures

Digital textbook

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 347 70 3
Full Text Views 48 0 0
PDF Downloads 29 0 0

Related Content

Cover Making work more equal

Making work more equal

A new labour market segmentation approach

Editors:
Damian Grimshaw
,
Colette Fagan
,
Gail Hebson
, and
Isabel Tavora

Book

Publication History:

Online Publication Date:
01 Sep 2017
Subjects:
  1. Sociology

This book presents new theories and international empirical evidence on the state of work and employment around the world. Changes in production systems, economic conditions and regulatory conditions are posing new questions about the growing use by employers of precarious forms of work, the contradictory approaches of governments towards employment and social policy, and the ability of trade unions to improve the distribution of decent employment conditions. Designed as a tribute to the highly influential contributions of Jill Rubery, the book proposes a ‘new labour market segmentation approach’ for the investigation of issues of job quality, employment inequalities, and precarious work. This approach is distinctive in seeking to place the changing international patterns and experiences of labour market inequalities in the wider context of shifting gender relations, regulatory regimes and production structures.
Cover Go home?

Go home?

The politics of immigration controversies

Authors:
Hannah Jones
,
Yasmin Gunaratnam
,
Gargi Bhattacharyya
,
William Davies
,
Sukhwant Dhaliwal
,
Emma Jackson
, and
Roiyah Saltus

Book

Publication History:

Online Publication Date:
31 Mar 2017
Subjects:
  1. Sociology

In July 2013, the UK government arranged for a van to drive through parts of London carrying the message ‘In the UK illegally? GO HOME or face arrest.’ The vans were short-lived, but they were part of an ongoing trend in government-sponsored communication designed to demonstrate control and toughness around immigration. This book explores the effects of such performances of toughness: on policy, on public debate, on pro-migrant and anti-racist activism, and on the everyday lives of people in Britain. This book both presents research findings, and provides insights into the practice of conducting research on such a charged and sensitive topic.

Blending original research, theoretical analysis, and methodological reflections, the book addresses questions such as:

  • Who gets to decide who ‘belongs’?
  • How do anti-migrant sentiments relate to changing forms of racism?
  • Are new divisions, and new solidarities, emerging in the light of current immigration politics?


Written in a clear and engaging style, the book sets an agenda for a model of collaborative research between researchers, activists, and people on the ground.
Cover Federalism and democratisation in Russia

Federalism and democratisation in Russia

Author:
Cameron Ross

Book

Publication History:

Online Publication Date:
06 Oct 2010
Subjects:
  1. Sociology

Building on earlier work, this text combines theoretical perspectives with empirical work, to provide a comparative analysis of the electoral systems, party systems and governmental systems in the ethnic republics and regions of Russia. It also assesses the impact of these different institutional arrangements on democratization and federalism, moving the focus of research from the national level to the vitally important processes of institution building and democratization at the local level and to the study of federalism in Russia.