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Notes Technological Society 11.09.2020 Assignment 3, image - Coggle…
Notes
Technological Society
11.09.2020
Assignment 3
1
Ganor:
There's no agreed definition
Deliberate use to violence against civilians for political/religions aims
NB: but he's definitely arguing for this internationally agred definition to 'fight against' terrorism
The 6 Reasons
Legistlation and punishment
International cooperation
State sponsoring terrorism
Offensive action
Attitude of population supporting terrorism
'Normative scale'
(NB: there was also a discussion about 'terrorism' and 'guerilla warfare')
Claims there can be an universal definition of terrorism: and that we need to work towards this in order to fight it
(NB: this is more of an essentialist view, different to many of the other texts we have read)
1.a
Ganor
Because of (6 reasons)
Also USSR-US 'mujadeen' ('freedom fighter') change to 'terrorist' (when state interests have changed/are been challenged from former proxies)
For him context and location should not matter (in order to have an universal definition -- the aim is not something we should define, but rather the actions should be the focal point)
Terrorist groups when they see the definition will be aided to move to guerilla warfare because this will give them further political context to 're-operationalise'
(1. Moral consideration and 2. Utilitarian consideration
if they see the definition, they will see how it will undermine their political goals and so move to guerilla warfare to become more acceptable)
US Military bias (on definition as necessitating attack against non-combatants) = but he thinks it's too-board a term, so better to only keep to civilians
2
Hall:
Attention [circular, recurring] cycle
(5 stages):
pre problem stage
alarm discovery and euphoric enthusiam
realisation of costs of significant progress
gradual decline of intense public interest
post problem stage
Important to shape public opinion (what places are 'dangerous', even if that's no inherent to them)
Portrayal of terrorism has been remediated through time: this has been intensified/amplified since 1950s
Merges into the pre problem stage because of the likelyhood of future attacks (therefore you should see this as a
circular process
)
Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y
Influences public opinion (demonstrating how dicourses have developed over time, and how they have have come to blur the line between tragedy and entertrainment)
2.a
Terrorism is (intensively) socially constructed
The 'build up' giving a feeling of increased intensity.
Techniques:
Mediate to become increasingly 'horrific' (to 'help situate' audience in these 'places of danger', and to make fear more 'tangible')
Portrayed critically (should we accept these mediations at 'face value'), etc.
Shows clips from 1960s - 1990s
Demonstrates how culture has changed:
romanticises the role that terrorists play (it has become more scary, violent) > this is part because terrorism itself has changed, but more importantly the way we have interacted with them, their victims, their actions, etc. has changed
discussed the reasoning behind 'hijacking', terrorists' motives > most of them have lived a life without attention (hence were seeking attention), and so media would go around the world in seconds and 'supply' to this need > they were often suicidal themselves so death didn't scare them so much
STS: there was one politician/['someone important'] which blamed science/technology to blame the casualties on [link w/ technological determinism]
3
Browning & McDonald
Legitimasies 'state ownership' of security and its role 'against' diffusing/'fighting' terrorism (and 'ensuring security')
Quote
"Leaders of liberal democratic states have represnted immigrants as threats to the sovereignity of the nation and social cohesion to justify the denial of the international responsibilities and enabling actions which would be characteristic of a time of war"
Jingoism
Normalising war, making it seem as something that is necessary
Fischetti
Has a 'material' impact in the way airports are designed, and the way people travel
'Future of security': influences debates about costs (who pays for it i.e. taxpayer, where does this money come from), x-ray (invasion of privacy)
Description of case study of person who was detained at airport, and his name was given to the media (portrayal of what/who terrorists are, and how this impacts ordinary people's every day lives)
Ganor:
These normative discourses start to 'tell us' what we should think of 'Other' societies, groups of people
Mediate which locations are 'safe', etc. (prevously mentioned)
Connection:
Media <> Politics
The way it is presented to the public shapes the way politicians interact and vice versa
3.a
4
3 more items...
Browning & MacDonald
Approaches to how we study security, and how this influences the way we understand it
(e.g. 'problem solving' vs 'critical' disciplines)
Named three approaches (@ intro + also headings in the text):
Fundamental critique:
Concern for politics of security
Ethics of security
2 Schools in Critical Security Studies
Welsh School
Progressive view of security
Critical & Copenhagen School
Security as something that can be bad or negative (pernicious)
Post-structuralist
Critique of these perspectives is that the role of context should be done much more (and that Copenhagen doesn't pay much attention to context)
Meant more on scholarly approaches/perspectives
