Interrogating the Concept and Practice of Terrorism within a Changing Global and Historical Context

The article presents an analysis on the construct of terrorism as a phenomenon with many contestations, explanations and understanding in variety. Pertinent among these is the relative interpretations of socio-economic relevance as a driver for terror activities. Since the advent of terrorism, the term’s use shifted from the regime de la terreurs during the French revolution, to anarchist and socio-revolutionary bombers in the 19th century, to the Red terror, to anti-colonial struggle, then to the Palestinian struggles in the 1960, and finally the religious fundamentalism since the 1990s to date. These episodes and differential motives for terror activities also beckon the question around its justification. Also, the evolution of term has brought about problems in understanding its causality and conceptualization and by implication in articulating an approach to finding a panacea for wherever and whenever it is witnessed. This article argues that the prism to which terrorism can be understood is highly subjective and open to different interpretations for different times and era.