Ordinary Terrorism in Historical Perspective

Although it is generally-and readily-understood that political violence from below implemented by radical cells against government agencies and officials falls into the category of insurgent terrorism, we are less willing to accept the notion that virtually all states engage in forms of enforcement, deprivation, neglect, and harm that operate as everyday realities. It is precisely these forces and currents that make possible the far more visible incendiary moments of violence that we tend to define as terroristic.