The Concept of (Global) Terrorism and Conspiracy Theory as Media Discourse

Terorizam kao pojam, usprkos aktualnosti i sve brojnijim studijama, još uvijek nema usuglašenu definiciju (Laquer, Schmid, Stampnitzky). Sve veći broj ekspertiza bi se mogao podvesti pod pojam prakse ‘protiv-terorizma’ i one najčešće imaju utilitarnu funkciju - s ciljem prevencije i zaustavljanja pojave. Lisa Stampnitzky istražuje diskurs stručnjaka za terorizam i dokazuje ne samo da je terorizam socijalni konstrukt, već ukazuje i na procese koji su doveli do sadašnjeg koncepta terorizma i primjene u okviru diskursa o terorizmu. Namjera ovog rada je da usporedi koncept terorizma kroz medijski diskurs, kao vid legitimne ekspertske interpretacije, s teorijom zavjere kao nelegitimne, parainstitucionalne forme interpretacije. Imajući u vidu zajedničke osobine ova dva pojma: sadrže moralnu osudu, imaju mitsku strukturu i podrazumijevaju određeni zaplet koji im prethodi - cilj ovog rada je da ustanovi eventualni odnos ovih diskursa u medijima i mapira njihove manifestacije izvan američkog diskursa.Despite the urgency and growing interest in a subject, there is no unifying definition of terrorism. A large number of studies could be seen as integral part of ‘counter-terrorism’ strategies- as set of practices to prevent and defeat terrorism. Lisa Stampnitzky’s research looked into the discourse of terrorism experts and argued that the concept of terrorism is a social construct, thus revealing further structure that facilitated it. Aim of this paper is to compare the concept of terrorism as media discourse- a form of legitimate expert interpretation, with conspiracy theory as a form of illegitimate, para-institutional form of interpretation. Noting the commonplaces of the two: defined as an afterthought, both being designated and not self-described notions, featuring a plot that precedes the event- this paper will look at these discourses, the way they relate to (and intersect) each other, and try to trace their manifestations