Effective Reading Analysis of Martin Gus’s Chapter 1, ‘Defining Terrorism,’ in the novel Essentials of Terrorism

Martin Gus’s Chapter 1, ‘Defining Terrorism,’ examined issues with terrorism, which includes New Terrorism, Extremists, and Guerrilla Fighters. Overall, I was pleased with the amount of definitions, and explanations Martin included, such as definitions of what terrorism exactly is, how media portrays terrorism, as well as public reactions to terrorism. I found Martin’s idea that while citizens of the United States reacted with horror to the 9/11 bombings of the World Trade Center, other citizens of different countries acted with rejoice quite interesting. I had  never thought of this before. I had assumed, from North America’s responses, that the bombings are absolutely devastating, but Martin points out the idea that other countries think differently. I also like Martin’s idea that people in their own countries, such as Britain, as the textbook describes, do not regard the organizations as freedom fighters, but as terrorists. This differentiation in perception interests me and I think Martin raised excellent awareness through this Chapter.

I much enjoyed Martin’s explanation and dedication to the Chapter terms, such as extremists. For extremists, Martin explains that extremists have a system that is made up by intolerance; by this, Martin also adds that extremists always justify their violence and notes that only people who act indifferently to extremist ideas are terrorists. I also liked how Martin did not only focus on the World Trade Center bombing, but brought in explosions in other countries, such as Columbia. Martin explains the concept of terrorism with great depth and detail, and includes the four divisions of terrorism, which are state, dissident, religious as well as international terrorism. I appreciate Martin’s explanatory definitions of all of his terms, as trying to read a Chapter or the rest of the book without the premises of the main ideas is extremely difficult.

While Guerrilla fighters (people in the military who take control of various parts of territory) are mentioned, Martin’s main focus seemed to be on extremists. Martin explained extremists in a great detail, with the ideas that extremists have intolerance, moral beliefs, overall assumptions to their ideas as well as joined beliefs. While Martin provided an excellent basis for these concepts, I felt that Martin could have improved this Chapter by adding more examples to his text that are Historically relevant. While the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union is obviously important, I feel that more recent wars, such as the one in Iraq, should be mentioned and discussed, as they are still in occurrence. Also, another example that makes me question relevance is the war against the Spanish that Martin mentions, which ended in 1898. Is this really relevant and comparable to our society now? I understand the importance of it, but I wish there were more modern examples.

I liked Martin’s use of imagery. The explosion at the Twin Towers really made an impact on myself and reminded myself of why people like George Bush said ‘if you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists.’ As Charles noted in class, this statement put a lot of fear in international organizations. I also liked the picture of the Colombian military officer taking a break at an explosion site in Columbia. This reminds me that there is still some order in society, even in the most chaotic times. Along with this pictures, I like Martin’s idea of New Terrorism, whereby New Terrorism is developed by weapons which cause numerous fatalities. I also like Martin’s use of division and connection in society, with his definitions of combatant and noncombatant people. These definitions raise important points to the abuse of power, past and current authority figures, as well as either the failure or dedication of individuals’ needs.

I also liked Martin’s idea of how media portrays events, such as bombings. Countries perceive the events differently, and as Martin notes, some people react with either joy or devastation. Films without sound, an explanation or background information are incredibly hard to understand or decipher. An example of this would be in my Visual Anthropology class. My Professor showed a film of something being destroyed. People’s reactions of the class were a game, desecration of a religious icon, a planned event, or a political rally. This is relevant to Martin’s idea of perception through the media because if members of one society see the film in different meanings, then others do as well.

Chimamade Achiche (A Dangerous Story) Video, Dialectic Reading Analysis

Chimamade, whom I will now refer to as the presenter, has a very powerful way to represent her ideas without her own biases. The struggles of her life as an African-American, which is the main basis of her presentation, made her write stories of vulnerability at the age of seven. This vulnerability, as she referred to it, was caused by her improper recognition. This is not to say that she was at fault for this improper recognition. She wrote the same stories that she read when she was a child. In addition, she explained how she was vulnerable, even as a child, from different impressions of the novels she read and other cultures, so she wrote only about these things that she ‘recognized,’ even though she had never experienced them.

The presenter compares her vulnerability in a worldly perspective. This is where her and my idea synthesizes. People make assumptions and have their own biases based on what they ‘know.’ The only problem is, unless the people are very well educated, what they ‘know’ actually comes from unreliable sources, such as the media, the internet or public conversation. People make assumptions and biases from these ‘sources’ and not only believe them, but engage in public display of these ideas as well, whether or not it be through public conversation, family ties, individual ‘research’ projects or online forums.

I completely agree with her ideas on vulnerability and she expresses them quite well, especially in terms of her own experience, whereby her roommate asked her for the ‘tribal’ music the presenter listens to, and was shocked when the presenter pulled out a Mariah Carey CD. Her presentation was very effective and I really enjoyed her explanation of her vulnerability, even as a child. Further, she said she wrote of all Caucasian people enjoying things like honey and apples, even though there were no such things in her surroundings. She even explains how her vulnerability lead to her own biases, such as her thought that all Mexican people were criminals and they took advantage of any health system they had.While she admits this bias, rightfully so, I hope other people will see and admit their own biases as well. I think this tactic–admitting your own character flaws in terms of world view–is very, very effective for her presentation.

Moreover, she clearly indicates the assumptions and biases of other cultures in her presentation. In her studies abroad, many people said they ‘didn’t know people like [her] could survive in Chicha’ and thought that ‘Nigerians [are] not supposed to be readers.’ I very much agree with the presenter that these biases, unfortunately, exist and are thought of as common knowledge, even though this ‘knowledge’ is incorrect. As she mentions, 5,000 people apply for one job in Africa. This is where other cultures’ assumptions that ‘Africans don’t work’ or ‘should just get a job to end their own poverty’ come in. Also, other cultures do not realize the competitiveness of Africa and assume that their country has the same work expectations as Africa. These biases not only affect the person’s individual views, but society’s views of other cultures as well.

I also agree with the presenter’s notion that although she attended the University of Nigeria, many people assume African-Americans are uneducated, wrongly so. Her presentation, and witty sense of humor, such as when she talked about the American Psycho movie, really challenges the audiences’ point of view. Additionally, through careful observation and interpretation, the presenter showed the idea of vulnerability; she explained how vulnerability not only changes a childs’ world view, but adults’ world view as well. Hopefully, as a result of her presentation, the audiences’ world view has changed and they realize some of their own biases. Overall, I feel that she deserves much credit for her work and can change ‘modern’ views on the situation of African-Americans.

About Myself…

My name is Lenore and I am a fourth year Anthropology major. I study at Kwantlen Polytechnic University twelve months of the year (five courses per semester in the Fall and Spring, as well as three courses in the Summer). I volunteer with the Anthropology Conference Centre as well as the NSO (Office of New Student Programs) at Kwantlen. I tutor two Thai girls as well as a ten-year-old from Russia and I am a Student Assistant for a Sociology Professor at Kwantlen. Also, I live with a ninety-six year old lady. I clean up around the house and it helps me with my rent.

I want to study terrorism to help eliminate racial bias and prejudice against other cultures and religions. I also enrolled in this course so I can graduate with a Bachelor’s in Anthropology with a minor in Sociology. When the word ‘terrorism’ occurs, I do not immediately think of 9/11 or the London bombings, but of a movie I watched. The movie is called ‘Scared Sacred’ and it examines catastrophes in different cultures with a political and religious awareness. I quite enjoy the part in the movie whereby people stand around a memorial for 9/11 and a Muslim woman asks if people feel uncomfortable that she is there. Everyone says no and the woman is very relieved. I wish people thought more this way because I think that to blame an entire culture and religion based on one incident is very racist and prejudice.

Honestly, I do not know that much about terrorism. It is hard to find accurate, reliable information on terrorism because written articles, such as those in newspapers, only come from one perspective and are often biased. Even other media applications, whether or not it is on the internet or just a few people discussing terrorism, often lead to rather irritating comments about how one culture or country is ‘crazy.’ What I hope to gain from this course is an accurate understanding of terrorism, the causes and results of terrorism, as well as how to help eliminate racial bias in terms of terrorism. I look forward to class lectures and discussions on these ideas!