The Enigma of Islamist Violence

Edited by Amelie Blom, Laetitia Bucaille, and Luis Martinez

December, 2007
Cloth, 240 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-70002-3
$50.00

Are suicide bombers pathological, as psychologists claim, or clever strategists? Are suicide attacks perpetrated by Islamists as a matter of belief or do they reflect socio-economic realities?

The debate surrounding Islamist violence remains locked in oppositional arguments that fail to take into account the variety of its global manifestations. Suicide attacks are relatively common in Kashmir and Israel, but almost nonexistent in Algeria and Yemen, two countries that have hosted long-running, violent Islamist campaigns. In this volume, leading scholars transcend rigid and disembodied readings of Islamist violence by focusing on the highly diverse, local origins of this contemporary phenomenon.

Contributors: Amélie Blom (Centre de Recherches Internationales de la Sorbonne (CRIS, Université Paris-I); Ludmila du Bouchet (University of Cambridge); Lætitia Bucaille (University of Bordeaux); Olivier Grojean (Université de Lille 2); Jan-Erik Lane (University of Geneva); Pénélope Larzillière (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement); Luis Martinez (CERI-Sciences-Po); Hamadi Redissi (University of Tunis, Tunisia)

Related Subjects

• Comparative Religion
• Islam
• Middle East Studies

About the Author

Laetitia Bucaille and Luis Martinez are research fellows at the Center for International Studies and Research (CERI), Paris.

Amélie Blom is a specialist on Islamist movements and is based in Pakistan.

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