The Terror of Things

Rethinking Security Through the Agency of Everyday Objects

Moving beyond perpetrator-centred questions, this open access book explores how everyday objects such as kitchen knives and vans become lethal weapons, and how a new materialist approach can further our understanding of terror events and could be used to prevent future violence.

Despite varied restrictions, explosives, guns, knives, and vehicles are readily available and kill thousands of people every year, yet thus far have played a marginal role in publications in security and terrorism studies. Katharina Karcher approaches terrorism as a ‘material-discursive’ phenomenon that comes into being through repeated boundary-drawing practices involving both human and non-human agencies.

Case studies from across Europe, the US and the Middle East offer critical insights into the material and cultural evolution of the objects involved in mass shootings, suicide bombings, stabbings, and vehicle rammings. Drawing on data from court files, press coverage and interviews, this study offers the first in depth analysis of the material and discursive practices that create terrorist weapons, and that exclude other objects from this category. Karcher also shows how educational campaigns and policy measures that consider the agency of objects and promote a more-than-human ethic of care can be used to save lives beyond the contentious area of counter-terrorism.

The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

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