Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Can We Laugh Yet? Reading Post-9/11 Counterterrorism Policy as Magical Realism and Opening a Third-Space of Resistance

  • Published:
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The War on Terror has demanded the acceptance of ridiculous propositions. But is it funny—can we laugh at such a destructive endeavour? Considering this, the paper reads the War on Terror as a text of magical realism—a literary genre which utilises juxtapositions between the fantastic supernatural and the modern rationalist paradigm. Thinking about the War on Terror as a magical realist text allows us to engage with the fantasy (and humour) of counter-radicalisation policies which require us to believe in ideological contagion and witchcraft-like possession, and the extension of ever-more technologically sophisticated risk-management algorithms which draw upon and necessitate a fear of a coming apocalypse to function. Similar clashes of paradigm are used within magical realist literature to contest the supposedly secure boundaries of rationalism, and to open a place that Homi Bhabha calls ‘third space’ through the creative potential of juxtaposition. In reading the War on Terror as a magical realist text, the paper argues that contemporary security policy narrates its own third space—one that can be extremely funny in the juxtapositions it employs. The War on Terror undermines itself by narrating a liminal space where its claims of security appear ridiculous. Drawing on the thought of Luce Irigaray, the paper argues that this space of laughter is not only useful for resisting the practices of the War on Terror, but also that a failure to laugh consolidates the War on Terror discourse and the joke it is playing on us by taking it seriously.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. I would like to acknowledge three people as sources of inspiration for this paper. Firstly, the comedian Mark Thomas, whose satirical stage shows about Israel’s peace-wall and the various insanities of the Bush administration reveal a politics which can open doors through comedy. Also, Professor Jenny Edkins, who introduced me to the work of Luce Irigaray and Homi Bhabha; and finally, Catherine Charrett, who highlighted some of the many merits of the black-comedy Four Lions—a film about the challenges faced by British jihadists.

  2. See James Der Derian & Michael Shapiro’s edited collection of poststructuralist approaches to International Politics (1989) which argues that the ‘objective reality’ of old understandings (and realities) of global politics have given way to intertextuality. Also, Ringmar (2006) has analysed disagreements between policymakers over the Iraq war with literary theory, arguing that they resemble conflicts between different narrative types.

  3. Mamdani (2008) identifies a discourse of ‘good Muslims’ and ‘bad Muslims’ within post-9/11 rhetoric, and a resultant injunction that ‘Islam must be quarantined and the devil must be exorcised from it’ (2008: 766).

  4. I am indebted to a seminar discussion on the use of drones for this point, and the credit should pass to the undergraduate students of Aberystwyth University’s IP33420 module.

References

  • Ahmad, M.I. (2011). ‘The magical realism of body Counts.’ Al Jazeera, 13 June 2011 (available at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/06/2011613931 606455.html, last accessed 24 April 2012).

  • Allen, C., & Wallach, W. (2009). Robots at war. The Wilson Quarterly, 33(2), 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amoore, L. (2006). Biometric borders: governing mobilities in the war on terror. Political Geography, 25(3), 336–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, B., & Adey, P. (2011). Affect and security: exercising emergency in ‘UK civil contingencies’. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 29(6), 1092–1109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aradau, C., & van Munster, R. (2011). Politics of catastrophe: Genealogies of the unknown. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhabha, H. (1994). The location of culture. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettison, N. (2009). Preventing violent extremism: A police response. Policing, 3(2), 129–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigo, D. (1999). Landscape of police co-operation. In E. Bort & R. Keat (Eds.), Boundaries of understanding: Essays in honour of Malcolm Anderson (pp. 59–74). Edinburgh: International Social Science Institute, University of Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair, T. (2006). ‘Tony Blair’s speech to the Foreign Policy Centre, 21 March 2006.’ The Guardian (available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/mar/21/iraq.iraq1, last accessed 20 April 2012).

  • Callam, A. (2010). ‘Drone Wars: armed unmanned aerial vehicles.’ International Affairs Review, 18(3).

  • Carlson, P. (2009). K Blows top: A cold war comic interlude starring nikita Kruschev, America’s most unlikely tourist. New York: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohn, N. (1993). Europe’s inner demons: The demonisation of Christians in Medieval Christendom. London: Pimlico.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Goede, M. (2003). Hawala discourses and the war on terrorist finance. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 21(5), 513–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department for Children, Schools and Families. (2008). Learning together to be safe: A toolkit to help schools contribute to the prevention of extremism. London: HM Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Communities and Local Government. (2007). Preventing violent extremism pathfinder fund: Guidance note for government offices and local authorities in England. London: HM Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Communities and Local Government. (2008). Preventing violent extremism pathfinder fund: Mapping of project activities 2007/2008. London: HM Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Der Derian, J., & Shapiro, M. J. (Eds.). (1989). International/Intertextual relations: Postmodern readings of world politics. New York: Lexington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillon, M. (2011). Specters of biopolitics: finitude, Eschaton and Katechon. South Atlantic Quarterly, 110(3), 780–792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1988). Politics, philosophy, culture: Interviews and other writings. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, L. (2002). Superterrorism: Policy responses. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath-Kelly, C. (2012). ‘Counter-terrorism and the counterfactual: producing the ‘Radicalisation’ discourse and the UK PREVENT Strategy.’ British Journal of Politics and International Relations (forthcoming in hardcopy but available via ‘early view’ at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00489.x/abstract, last accessed 20 April 2012).

  • Hickmann, M., Thomas L., Silvestri S., Nickels H. (2011). ‘Suspect Communities’? Counter-Terrorism Policy, the Press, and the Impact on Irish and Muslim Communities in Britain. London: London Metropolitan University, http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/fms/ MRSite/Research/iset/Suspect%20Communities%20Findings%20July2011.pdf (last accessed 30/11/2011).

  • Hillyard, P. (1993). Suspect community: People’s experiences of the prevention of terrorism acts in Britain. London: Pluto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, E. A. (2008). Writing the body of Christ: each flesh becoming word. In L. Irigaray & M. Green (Eds.), Luce Irigaray: Teaching (pp. 127–141). London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office. (2006). Countering international terrorism: The United Kingdom’s strategy. London: HM Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irigaray, L. (1985). This sex which is not one, trans. Catherine Porter & Carolyn Burke. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Islamic Human Rights Commission (2009). Preventing violent extremism; response by the Islamic Human Rights Commission to UK government consultation (available at http://www.ihrc.org.uk/publications/briefings/9108-preventing-violent-extremism-response-by-the-islamic-human-rights-commission-to-uk-government-consultation-september-2009, last accessed 20 April 2012)

  • Jackson, R. (2005). Writing the war on terrorism: Language, politics and counter-terrorism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, R., Jarvis, L., Gunning, J., Breen-Smyth, M., Jackson, R., Jarvis, L., Gunning, J., Jackson, R., Jarvis, L., Gunning, J., & Breen-Smyth, M. (2011). Reconsidering the terrorist threat. In M. Breen-Smyth, R. Jackson, L. Jarvis, J. Gunning, & M. Breen-Smyth (Eds.), Terrorism: A critical introduction (pp. 124–149). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, A. (2007). The London bombers as “Self-Starters”: a case study in indigenous radicalization and the emergence of autonomous cliques. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 30(5), 415–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koschade, S. (2006). A social network analysis of Jemaah Islamiyah: the applications to counterterrorism and intelligence. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 29(6), 559–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, H., & Sprenger J. (1487). Malleus Malificarum (available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/, last accessed 20 April 2012).

  • Kundnani, A. (2009). Spooked: How not to prevent violent extremism. London: Institute of Race Relations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laqueur, W. (1999). The new terrorism: Fanaticism and the arms of mass destruction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacAskill, E. (2012). ‘US drone strikes in Yemen crucial to prevent terrorist threat, Panetta says’. The Guardian, 19 April 2012 (available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ 2012/apr/19/us-drone-strikes-yemen-panetta?newsfeed=true, last accessed 24 April 2012).

  • Mamdani, M. (2008). Good muslim, bad muslim: a political perspective on culture and terrorism. American Anthropologist, 104(3), 766–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, S. B. (2010). No: the threat is overblown. In S. Gottlieb (Ed.), Debating terrorism and counterterrorism: Conflicting perspectives on causes, contexts and responses (pp. 180–200). Washington: CQ Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, A. (2012). ‘Attorney general holder: due process doesn’t necessarily mean a courtroom’. The Atlantic Wire, 5 March 2012 (available at http://www.theatlanticwire.com/ national/2012/03/holder-due-process-doesnt-necessarily-mean-courtroom/49509/, last accessed 24 April 2012).

  • Miller, G. (2011). ‘Under Obama, an emerging global apparatus for drone killing.’ The Washington Post, 28 December 2011 (available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ national/national-security/under-obama-an-emerging-global-apparatus-for-drone-killing/2011/12/13/gIQANPdILP_story_4.html, last accessed 24 April 2012).

  • Ministry of Defence. (2011). The UK approach to unmanned aircraft systems. Swindon: Ministry of Defence.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, J. (2006). Overblown: How politicians and the terrorism industry inflate national security threats, and why we believe them. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office, H. (2009). Pursue prevent protect prepare: The United Kingdom’s strategy for countering international terrorism. London: HM Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office, H. (2011). Prevent strategy. London: HM Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pantazis, C., & Pemberton, S. (2009). From the ‘Old’ to the ‘New’ suspect community: examining the impact of recent counter-terrorism legislation. British Journal of Criminology, 49(5), 646–666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, A. (2011). The problem with ‘radicalization’: the remit of ‘Prevent’ and the need to refocus on terrorism in the UK. International Affairs, 87(1), 143–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringmar, E. (2006). Inter-textual relations: the quarrel over the Iraq War as a conflict between narrative types. Co-Operation and Conflict, 41(4), 403–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sageman, M. (2004). Understanding terror networks. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salter, M. (2004). Passports, mobility and security: how smart can the border be? International Studies Perspectives, 5(1), 71–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedgwick, M. (2010). The concept of radicalisation as a source of confusion. Terrorism and Political Violence, 22(4), 479–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, S., & Benjamin, D. (2000). America and the New Terrorism. Survival, 42(1), 59–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprinzak, E. (1998). The Great Superterrorism Scare. Foreign Policy, 112, 110–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Daily Mash (2012). ‘Predator drone visiting afghan families on condolence mission.’ The Daily Mash, 13 March 2012 (available at http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/war/predator-drone-visiting-afghan-families-on-condolence-mission-201203135003, last accessed 30 April 2012).

  • The Onion (2011). ‘Could the use of flying death robots be hurting America’s reputation worldwide?’ The Onion, 10 November 2011 (available at http://www.theonion.com/video/could-the-useof-flying-death-robots-be-hurting-am,27601/, last accessed 30 April 2012).

  • The Telegraph (2012). ‘Attorney General Eric Holder defends killing of American terror suspects.’ The Telegraph, 6 March 2012 (available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9125038/Attorney-General-Eric-Holder-defends-killing-of-American-terror-suspects.html, last accessed 24 April 2012).

  • Thomas, P. (2010). Failed and friendless: the UK’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ programme. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 12(3), 442–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, A. (2012) ‘Regulating the rise of Drones.’ IPI Global Observatory (available at http://www.theglobalobservatory.org/analysis/262-regulating-the-rise-of-drones.html, last accessed 24/04/2012)

  • Zamora, L. P., & Faris, W. B. (1995). Introduction: Daiquiri Birds and Flaubertian Parrot(ie)s. In L. Parkinson Zamora & W. B. Faris (Eds.), Magical realism: Theory, history, community (pp. 1–11). Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zulaika, J. (2012). Drones, witches and other flying objects: the force of fantasy in US counterterrorism. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 5(1), 51–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zulaika, J., & Douglass, W. A. (1996). Terror and taboo: The follies, fables and faces of terrorism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Fellow, Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Charlotte Heath-Kelly

Authors
  1. Charlotte Heath-Kelly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte Heath-Kelly.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Heath-Kelly, C. Can We Laugh Yet? Reading Post-9/11 Counterterrorism Policy as Magical Realism and Opening a Third-Space of Resistance. Eur J Crim Policy Res 18, 343–360 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-012-9180-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-012-9180-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation