The changing meaning of 'terrorism' in Colombia: A matter of discourse

Research output: Chapter in Book/InformChapterResearch

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The use of the concept of terrorism in Colombia, especially regarding who is a terrorist, has changed over the years according to the discourse, making it difficult to gain a singular concrete understanding of the phenomenon. Understanding terrorism, and the responses that the Colombian state has created to address it, requires identifying how specific agents have been categorized as terrorists according to the context. This chapter argues that instead of being an objective and continuous reality through the history of Colombia's conflicts, terrorism has appeared as a result of the construction of discourses that have positioned specific agents as terror organizations. This categorization is not a simple matter of semantics; it has various policy implications related to the forms in which the state has responded to violent actors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationNon-Western responses to terrorism
PublisherManchester University Press
Pages246-270
Number of pages25
ISBN (Electronic)9781526157102
ISBN (Print)9781526105813
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 17 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Social Sciences
  • General Arts and Humanities

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