From the “Classic” Terrorism of the 1970s to Contemporary “Global” Terrorism

Abstract

Terrorism is both a word used in everyday life, and a category for the political and social sciences. In fact, it correspond to different historical eras, and a first step for a serious analysis consists in distinguishing two periods over the last fifty years. The first period, which can be considered as classical, includes domestic terrorism, with the extreme left (such as Red Brigades), the extreme right, and some versions of independentism (like ETA); as well as international terrorism, such as those acting in the name of the Palestinian cause. In the early 80s, terrorism changed and began to be global and religious, articulating internal and external meanings. The conceptualisations of classical and global terrorism differed. Furthermore, a useful distinction within global terrorism leads to the image of four different types of jihadism, the main but not unique expression of this phenomenon, going from global violence, as with 9–11, to the so-called lone wolves.