ABSTRACT
There has been little scholarly research and focus on the role of victim’s voices in the construction of counter-narratives. In an effort to circumvent state-centric approaches and instead explore more genuine societal approaches, this paper will explore how counter-narratives are expressed through community-driven acts of resistance to terrorism in the specific context of the terrorist attack sites in Bali and Oslo/Utøya. It applies a theoretical framework defining terrorism as “communication”, identifying terrorism as a narrative and counter-terrorism as a counter-narrative. In this sense, it is vital to identify and discuss any current structural challenges impeding the constructive use and implementation of victim’s voices in counter-narratives and counter-terrorism strategies, particularly at a time when the international community is grappling with how to counter the narrative of the violent Islamic extremists in an ongoing battle for hearts and minds.
This paper sets out to explore how counter-narratives are produced innately in individual’s engagement with terrorist attack sites and the structural challenges in place to incorporate victims’ voices; this will focus specifically on terrorist attack sites in Bali and Oslo/Utøya. It applies a theoretical framework defining terrorism as “communication”, identifying terrorism as a narrative and counter-terrorism as a counter-narrative. In this sense, it is vital to identify and discuss any current structural challenges impeding the constructive use and implementation of victims’ voices in counter-narratives and counter-terrorism strategies, particularly at a time when the international community is grappling with how to counter the narrative of the violent Islamic extremists in an ongoing battle for hearts and minds.
