Al-Qaeda & Sacrifice: Martyrdom, War & Politics by Melissa Finn

28 in stock

215mm x 135mm x 22mm

Pages: 264

Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice is a pioneering critical intervention into the study of terrorism. Challenging the commonly held idea that GÇÿsuicide-bombingsGÇÖ are motivated by a nihilistic hatred of life, Melissa Finn argues that it is more honest and helpful to examine such violent agency through the concept of GÇÿsacrificeGÇÖ. The book provides a unique look at the way GÇÿsacrificeGÇÖ is used in the Arabic language and in the writings of Islamists and jihadis.

Finn offers penetrating insights into jihadi thought on its own terms, arguing that it constitutes a political theory which can be usefully compared and related to western political theorists, from Machiavelli and von Clausewitz to Hannah Arendt, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. She critically examines the strategy of GÇÿsacrificeGÇÖ in martyrdom operations and ultimately concludes that the heedless certainty of such violence undermines attempts to redress political grievances.

Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice is a unique contribution which goes beyond simplistic or apologetic explanations of terrorism and allows the authentic jihadi voice to speak for itself.