Description
Recent years have witnessed growing political and media reference to the novelty of contemporary terrorism. Terrorism, today, is widely seen to be characterised by: (i) the growth of racist and misogynistic violences associated, for instance, with the far-right and Incels; (ii) the increased prominence of ‘lone actor’ or ‘self-starter’ extremists; and (iii) a less predictable and therefore more challenging threat. This article argues that this composite construction warrants attention for two reasons. First, because it demonstrates clear rhetorical continuity with an older set of claims associated with the ‘new terrorism’ thesis popularised in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Second, because this rhetorical continuity masks an ontological discontinuity with that earlier thesis’ referents and arguments. By exploring this tension and its importance, the paper offers: (i) original empirical reflection on contemporary discourse relating to terrorism’s (constructed) temporalities; (ii) analytical conceptualisation of this contemporary framing as an important evolutionary moment within ‘new terrorism’ discourse; and, (iii) theoretical reflection on the resilience of temporal periodisations of terrorism, by highlighting the ability of the ‘new terrorism’ discourse to outlive its original purposes, case studies, contexts, and advocates.
