TRIPMAP

Mapping Terrorist Risk Perceptions Comparatively

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Since the events of 9/11, terrorism has been framed in the prevailing public discourse as an all pervasive societal threat. In turn, the official response to this ‘new threat’ has created a pervasive atmosphere of anxiety where political fear bleeds into the fabric of daily life. At the same time, one of the liveliest areas of theoretical debate in social and political analysis in recent times is that addressing the phenomenon of risk and the role it plays in contemporary politics. Yet, and surprisingly enough, there has been little empirical research, hitherto, of the ways in which the risk of terrorism as the pre-eminent security preoccupation of western states is perceived by the public. Although there are some studies on the USA, this gap is all the more remarkable when it comes to Europe. Backed by a detailed comparative analysis of two European countries, the UK and Greece, this project aims to address this imbalance in a theoretically and methodologically progressive way. In theoretical terms, its overall aim is to develop an integrative theoretical framework for the analysis of terrorist risk perception that brings together key insights from disparate risk analysis research communities. In methodological terms, its key objective is to develop a new technique for mapping risk perceptions in the form of factor analysis. The above two contributions will, in turn, allow us to evaluate whether the risk of terrorism is perceived via pan-cultural cognitive patterns based on socio-demographic micro-determinants or whether the perceptions of the terrorist risk are determined by cultural and institutional macro-variables and are therefore highly variable.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An integrative theoretical framework helps analyse terrorist risk perception and the new global counterterrorist paradigm.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

In recent years, terrorism has been viewed as a new societal threat. As a result, political fear seeps into the realm of daily life and public perception of the risk of terrorism creates an atmosphere of anxiety.

Theoretical debate of social and political analysis continues to address the phenomenon of risk and the role it plays. However, there is still a gap when it comes to analysing terrorist risk perception in Europe. The EU-funded project TRIPMAP has developed both a theoretical and a methodological means to address this discrepancy using a detailed comparative analysis.

Background work of the project uncovered that accepting the notion of new terrorism rests on two major presumptions. One of them is that the character of global terrorist activity in the late 1990s brought forth a new, more severe form of terrorism. The other is that democracies, which by their very nature respect civil liberties, show increased terrorist activity.

Analytical and empirical findings concluded that both of the above presumptions are questionable and distorted when taken at face value. Yet the question of why there is the perception of a risk of terrorism remains.

At a fundamental level it is evident that a more historical understanding of terrorism is needed as opposed to rigid labels distinguishing old from new which can be damaging and counterproductive. Furthermore the issue of trust in government proves to be an important one in terms of whether or not citizens are willing to compromise civil liberties in favour of security.

This integrated model can be employed for further research linking the impact of terrorism risk on societies to decision-making and emotional responses to terrorism.