ABSTRACT
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have spurred many social sci-
entists to explore the dynamics of terrorism, most for the first time.
Before 9/11, terrorism research was the exclusive preserve, with very few
exceptions, of small networks of political scientists and non-academic
‘‘security experts,’’ relatively few of whom were interested in social science
theory. Descriptive case studies abound, replete with ad hoc, case-specific
explanations of terrorism. Curiously, most scholars of rebellion and revo-
lution, broadly defined, have had virtually nothing of significance to say about terrorism. More generally, the strategic choices of revolutionary
movements – of which terrorism is one – have received much less scholarly
attention than the causes and consequences of revolutions. To be sure, many
scholars have examined the use of terrorism by revolutionaries in power –
including the Jacobin ‘‘reign of terror’’ and Stalin’s show trials and forced
collectivization of agriculture – but there has been no systematic study of
the use of terrorism by revolutionary movements that are struggling to take
power. In this chapter, I begin with a definition of terrorism and revolutionary
terrorism; I then discuss several extant theories of terrorism, noting their
insights and shortcomings; and I outline my own theory of ‘‘categorical’’
terrorism, a type of terrorism that has been employed by revolutionaries
with increasing frequency in recent years. Although my theory requires
more rigorous empirical testing than I can provide here, I believe that it
helps to explain better than extant approaches why some revolutionary
movements, but not others, employ or try to employ a strategy characterized by the use of violence against anonymous civilians or non-combatants. It is
terrorism in this sense which today alternately fascinates, repels, and
inspires women and men across large parts of the globe.
