The social history of political violence

Like bureaucracy, terrorism proceeds “without regard to persons” (Haralambos and Holborn, 1991, 409). And it is this impersonal quality that makes the historical emergence of anti-state terrorism intriguing. Where has it come from? How did it emerge? Why? Focusing upon the historical experience of the West, I divide attempts at explanation into push and pull factors. I deal with each category in turn, before turning, briefly, to consider contemporary predicaments and future prospects. If a social history approach to the study of political violence has analytical value, it should have something suggestive to say about its future as well.