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Protecting the urban : the dangers of planning for terrorism
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Coaffee, Jon (2009) Protecting the urban : the dangers of planning for terrorism. Theory, Culture & Society, Volume 26 (Number 7-8). pp. 343-355. doi:10.1177/0263276409349656 ISSN 0263-2764.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0263276409349656
Abstract
Urban areas are prime targets for international terrorists given the array of valuable physical and social infrastructure they contain. Whereas traditionally governmental, financial, critical infrastructure or military targets have been attacked, increasingly terrorism is targeted at everyday crowded urban spaces which are by their very nature difficult to defend. Subsequently this has led to a wave of pre-emptive and anticipatory counter-terrorism policy in the West in an attempt to secure the defence of the future city. In such policy-making urban terror attacks are viewed as inevitable and unavoidable, but the nature of such attacks is seen as fluid. Notably, recent commando-style attacks against non-western cities — in Mumbai and Lahore in late 2008 and early 2009 respectively — and against soft, unprotected targets has led to a reassessment of western urban security strategies and an assumption that such terrorist modus operandi will migrate to western cities. Such an uncritical reading, as exemplified by the western bias in media reporting in the aftermath of these events, highlights the need for scholars and policy-makers to engage with alternative readings of these events and illuminate the contextual factors underlying terrorism and its tactics, and target selection in particular locations. In developing a more rounded and reflexive understanding of terrorism as a method, planners and policy-makers might be in a better position to progress more nuanced security strategies that aim to tackle the underlying causes of terrorism rather than simply reacting through militarizing an increasing array of urban spaces.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Theory, Culture & Society | ||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||
ISSN: | 0263-2764 | ||||
Official Date: | December 2009 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Volume 26 | ||||
Number: | Number 7-8 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 343-355 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1177/0263276409349656 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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