Bruce Allen Scharlau PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

3.1 Definitions of Terrorism
Numerous definitions of terrrorism abound 37
9
so unanimity in the
usage of the term is unlikely. This leaves two options. One is unanimity
amongst social scientists, who can then all pursue research wi th the
same focal point. Another option is to leave the political definition of
terrorism to the policy-makers, who
responses to suspected terrorist acts. 38
are responsible for justifying
Leaving aside the policy-makers for a moment, consensus amongst the
social scientists in terrorism research is found in a 1985 questionaire
mailed out to around two hundred researchers on political terrorism. The
result was that, while 81% found the provided definition partially or
fully acceptable, almost two-thirds could not entirely agree with it. 39
The researchers then rewrote their definition with the study results in
mind to arrive at this definition of terrorism:
Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated
violent action, employed by (semi- ) clandestine
individual, group, or state actors, for idiosyncratic,
criminal, or political reasons, whereby- -in contrast
to assassination- -the direct targets of violence are
not the main targets. The immediate human victims of
violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of
opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic
targets) from a target population, and serve as message
generators. Threat- and violence-based communication
processes between terrorist (organization), (imperiled)
victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the
main target of demands or a target of attention,
depending on whether intimidation, coercion or
propaganda is primarily sought.40
This definition explicitly states that there are different types of
terrorism, some of which are political. As this thesis restricts itself
to political terrorism in general,
and left-wing terrorism in the
Federal Republic of Germany, the appropriate government definition
should be compared to the above definition to uncover any possible
differences.
The Interior Ministry annual reports on political violence in the
Federal Republic, Verfassungsschutzberichtef state that terrorism is
the sustained battle waged for political goals, that
with the help of supporters is to be carried out
against life, limb and property of other people,
especially through serious criminal actsf such as those
named in Para 129a Art. 1 of the Criminal Code Book
37 see Schmid (1983), 119-158, for 109 definitions; and Schmid,
Jongmanf 32-38, for 35 more definitions.
38 Schmid (1983), 6; Wardlaw, xiii.
39 Schmid, Jongmanf 2-3.
40 ibid., 28.