Abstract

This chapter explores terrorism in context. It is difficult to make generalizations about terrorism and outline exactly what causes it. Terrorism as a term is most commonly used to describe violence which comes from below and is directed at the power of the state. That has indeed been the dominant usage during the last century and a half as we have seen successive waves of terrorism. But the form that such violence takes has varied widely so that terrorism has developed to have multiple meanings across time and in different contexts. Context remains crucial to the development of an understanding of terrorism in its many manifestations. The chapter considers a number of types of terrorism as defined by studies including lone wolf terrorism, transnational terrorism, and international terrorism.