Cultural Anthropology Blog: Understanding the Roots of Terrorism

Alex Karni

Mr. Roddy

IHSS

September 15, 2019


Cultural Anthropology specializes in the study of different cultures, beliefs, practices, etc. These anthropologists study how people who share a common cultural system shape the world around them, in return, shaped by ideas and behaviors. There are many examples of cultural anthropology in the world we live in today, but one that I think is very important and that has shaped our world to what we know today is terrorism. The word "Terrorism" leads back to the Assyrians, which lived in what is now northern Iraq, dating as far back as 612 BCE. The first acts of terror were said to be during the Jewish rebellion against Rome in 70 CE. 

Ironically the first uses of the word was used to refer to the government. It was used when sovereign actors instilled the fear of God in individuals. Nowadays, we use it to refer to people of their own countries and the global order who instill fear through violence and pre-meditated attacks. Usually, the reason is to put out a message that is often politically related, to the public. Examples of terrorism in history can be included in the Peloponnesian War, the Crusades, the assassinations of Czars and Kings, the fall of the Roman Empire, the French Revolution, both of the World Wars, and many many more. 

There are major differences in the reasons of violence, political messages, and the degree of carnage involved. One reason is because of power struggles over borders. Another can be people perceiving or viewing a real socio-economic disparity to a large group of individuals. Lastly, the desire to send a message to state actors. Reasons of why people want to send a message in such an extreme way is because no other way would catch the attention of their struggles. I think this article was very interesting because of how the word and the physical affection changed over thousands of years of misinterpretation and changes in the environment. 

https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/october-2016/understanding-the-factors-that-lead-to-terrorism/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cultural Anthropology

Gabriel Han Sep 16 IHSS Cultural Anthropology Blog I read an article about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and a study around them conducted by MIT. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a series of ancient Hebrew texts that were discovered in 1947. The study was focused on one scroll known as the Temple scroll, out of the 900 or so scrolls. The scrolls were hidden in jars on hillsides north of the Dead Sea, often under debris. The reason the Temple scroll was chosen was because it is the largest and most well preserved of the scrolls, despite the fact that the material is incredibly thin, at only 1/250 of an inch thick. The study was to investigate how the parchment was made, and what it was made of. Results showed it was processed in a strange way, and made of odd ingredients like evaporates that differed from the normal ones. This raises questions such as how did they make it, or come up with the idea for it? Scientists believe that understanding this parchment could provide insights into the cultur...
Read more

Further Investigation of Immigration

Andreas Cantu Mr. Roddy IHSS 12 April 2020 Chinese Immigration  Between the years 1845 and 1855 the US saw a massive influx of chinese immigrants. This was due to the gold rush in California. Chinese immigrants would leave the friends and family in search of a better life with more opportunities in America, and gold rush gave them their best shot at making it big in America. Although they had hopes to join the gold mining most of them took jobs with coal mining companies for little to no commision. This was huge problem for the immigrants, because it made life in America very difficult. As time went on they had begun opening up small business wherever they could, this helped them integrate their culture into the American culture and help them feel more at home. The American Robber Barons saw Chinese immigrants as noting but cheap labor. In 1863 The transcontinental railroad began its six year long construction, stretching from Sacramento California to Omaha, as more Chinese...
Read more

Thoughts on Engagement

After doing the research for my challenge project on kill and no kill animal shelters, I have decided that I want to find a way to educate people on the internet without stating any form of opinion in order to be informative without being offensive. What I want to do is make a website that will have information both good and bad on kill and no kill animal shelters in an effort to educate the public on the matter. many people will for blind opinions on specifically kill shelters as they don't do the research and end up attacking people without any information on the matter. This is something that people need to know about because it is important that people who are thinking about adopting an animal know what they are getting in to before they do so impulsively. I will also include information on why sterilizing animals is so important to the issue of strays and why people should consider sterilizing their household pets as well as it only puts their animal in danger and makes them w...
Read more