r/AskSocialScience • u/ibn-ul-farooq • 10d ago
Which terrorist figure do you find most interesting to study, and why?
I'm interested in terrorism from a psychological and historical perspective, particularly how individual terrorists develop their worldview and what motivates them to commit extreme violence.
I'm not asking which terrorist people support or admire. I'm interested in which individuals are particularly interesting to study from an academic perspective, and what makes their psychology or development unusual.
•
u/dowcet 10d ago
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as Carlos The Jackal, often gets mentioned as an interesting case as in texts like those below, but I don't know if there's any good psychology or sociology research on him in particular.
Unlike the "typical" terrorist of his era, he seems to have been highly motivated by a search for fame rather than any real commitment to the political causes he fought for.
https://books.google.com/books?id=TM7SrBLoMlgC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA3
•
9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
•
u/AutoModerator 9d ago
Top-level comments must include a peer-reviewed citation that can be viewed via a link to the source. Please contact the mods if you believe this was inappropriately removed.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/Full-Imagination-938 5d ago
Nelson Mandela. A communist that was able to become president. He used revolutionary violence and legitimate state violence at the same time. A textbook example of Machiavelli politics
"In recent years, the question of what form a revolutionary uprising will take – armed or unarmed – has been raised more often. This is because, as shown by numerous studies, revolutionary nonviolence can explain why an uprising fails or succeeds to lead to democracy"
•
u/AutoModerator 10d ago
Thanks for your question to /r/AskSocialScience. All posters, please remember that this subreddit requires peer-reviewed, cited sources (Please see Rule 1 and 3). All posts that do not have citations will be removed by AutoMod. Circumvention by posting unrelated link text is grounds for a ban. Well sourced comprehensive answers take time. If you're interested in the subject, and you don't see a reasonable answer, please consider clicking Here for RemindMeBot.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.