Power, Discourse and Victimage Ritual in the War on Terror - Hardcover

Blain, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1409436055 ISBN 13: 9781409436058

Publisher: Routledge, 2012

Synopsis

Blending concepts from 'dramatism' such as 'victimage ritual' with Foucault's approach to modern power and knowledge regimes, this book presents a novel and illuminating perspective on political power and domination resulting from the global war on terrorism. With attention to media sources and political discourse within the context of the global war on terror, the author draws attention to the manner in which power elites construct scapegoats by way of a victimage ritual, thus providing themselves with a political pretext for extending their power and authority over new territories and populations, as well as legitimating an intensification of domestic surveillance and social control. A compelling analysis of ritual rhetoric and political violence, Power, Discourse and Victimage Ritual in the War on Terror will be of interest to sociologists, political theorists and scholars of media and communication concerned with questions of surveillance and social control, political communication, hegemony, foreign policy and the war on terror.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Blain is Professor of Sociology at Boise State University, USA, and author of The Politics of Death and The Sociology Terrorism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1409436055
• ISBN 13: 9781409436058
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176