Book Review: Randall Law. 2016. Terrorism: A History
| Author | Doreen Alusa |
| Published date | 01 April 2018 |
| Date | 01 April 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2347797017751714 |
Book Reviews 107
sub-national-level focus on the ethnic Bihari community in North India, is missing.
Moreover, the colonial history of both sides of the Indo-Nepali border in forming
artificial boundary was largely neglected by Jha. As it was during this period that the
single community was divided into two nationalities, a dedicated historical discus-
sion is indispensable in any contextual analysis of Madhesi identity.
Similarly, the intersectionality of Madhes identity along the social (caste and
class groupings), regional (East and West) and ethnic line (language, culture,
and religion) is vital to understand the fragmentation among leadership to pursue
unified movement for the equal rights. Jha does point to such fragmentation but
the focus is more towards differing personal interests of the leaders rather than the
associated divisions mentioned above. However, along with the fragmentation,
the author is correct to indicate leadership vacuum and rise of extremism as
impediments to achieve the objective of end structural discrimination.
As the book suggests, the globalization and successive democratic waves have
certainly played greater role in raising political consciousness of Madhesi people
and in some cases muddling and complicating the identity issue. Similarly, the real
and perceived security vulnerability of Nepal vis-à-vis India has deeply influ-
enced Nepali rulers’/elites’ attitude towards Madhesi people. The book could
have been more rigorous in laying out the intervening process on how the
globalization, democratic movements and question of independence and sover-
eignty shape Madhesi identity, their status within Nepal and their attempt to
launch unified movement against the state-led discrimination. Nonetheless,
The Madhesi Upsurge and the Contested Idea of Nepal is recommended for
anybody seeking a basic understanding of Mahesi identity and political processes
that have moulded the movements for Madhesi identity.
Keshab Giri
University of Sydney, Australia
E-mail: keshab.giri@sydney.edu.au
Randall Law. 2016. Terrorism: A History. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press,
386 pp. ISBN: 978-0-7456-9089-6
DOI: 10.1177/2347797017751714
Giving an account of the evolution of terrorism over millennia is an extensive task
that Randall Law undertakes in the second edition of his book titled Terrorism:
A History. The book is divided into 16 chapters that provide a chronological over-
view of how terrorism has evolved from the period of the ancient Assyrians from
the ninth to seventh centuries BCE to the onset of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS). While each chapter focuses on the unique social circumstances and
conditions that precipitated the rise of different terrorist groups and attacks, the
chapters are linked through Law’s explanation of how the tactics and objectives of
preceding groups influenced the formation and methods used by subsequent terrorist
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