Critical Terrorism Studies and Anthropology of Violence

The article provides an overview of the "critical terrorism studies" (CTS), an interdisciplinary field of research that was formed in the 2000s. at the intersection of philosophy, political science, and history. The goal of its followers is to problematize the nature of terrorism and its evolution in the XX c. Starting from the critical theory and poststructuralism of Michel Foucault, CTS analyze the mechanisms for constructing the border between the state policy of terror, colonial uprisings, as well as a wide range of "new terrorism" phenomena, ecoterrorism, cyberterrorism, counterterrorism and peacekeeping operations. Especially representative for understanding this new line of research is the "Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies" (ed. R. Jackson, 2016). Its analysis allows us to outline the prospects of CTS, as well as the internal contradictions and theoretical differences of its supporters.