Sunday, November 25, 2007

"Terrorists don't simply die for a cause"

As an article in the NY Times points out, social milieu is important when explaining why some choose to become suicide bombers. Because of the occurrence of 9/11, explanatory theories are in abundance: some focus on poverty, others on alienation, while others again stress the importance of ideology and brainwashing. In truth, the explanation is not likely to be uni-causal, nor must one reason explain the motives of all suicide bombers. Still, one is slowly realizing the importance of group mentality when terrorists are recruited and, in some cases, defect from terrorism. As the Norwegian scientist Tore Bjørgo has found when trying to get extremists of every colour to defect from their militant beliefs and organizations: they join or disengage in groups. So, it makes a lot of sense when anthropologist Scott Atran explains to NY Times correspondent Andrea Elliot that "Terrorists don't simply die for a cause. They die for each other".

That terrorist bombers need not be lone wolves or social misfits is not so surprising when one thinks about it. What makes people go to the step of actually killing other people? Most, if not all, human beings are dependent on some kind of reassurance from the outside world that their conception of reality is correct. You cannot maintain certain beliefs without external ratification. In other words, individual beliefs, whether mundane or spiritual, need to be reinforced from other sources than oneself. In a social milieu that is gradually radicalizing, chances are that you are radicalizing along with it.

As I see it, terrorism is a question of what kind of reality you live in. The reality in which bombing a train is not only justified, but also highly admirable, is a reality where there is war, injustice, a totally unacceptable world order. This is not necessarily a correct conception of reality, but to some, it is the truth.

I like to think about terrorism in terms of the movie "The Matrix". If I believed the world to be a machine-controlled hellhole where humans only exist as energy-sources for machines, I would probably be okay with killing any being that got in my way of liberating the whole of mankind, because anyone not yet liberated, is potentially an agent (literally, as the agents can transform into any which person you meet on the street). This conception of the world order may not be far from how the jihadis view the world. They might see the world as just as inhuman, nightmarish and cruel as in the movie. Remember, in their world, they are the good guys. However, to keep up this belief, they need to be surrounded by peers with corresponding beliefs. Therefore, terrorists don’t just die for each other, but because of each other.
Read more:

  • NY Times
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