The 9/11 attacks : other readings on political violence

Abstract

The dynamics of political violence seem to be an inseparable point of concrete forms of power. And in Political Philosophy, this type of violence seems to remain inseparable from the role of the State. In very general terms, it is based, for example, on the Platonic criticism of the “tyrant”, on the Machiavellianism of the “prince” or on the Marxist criticism of domination. There is, therefore, a dialectic of political violence that places the state (or other political authority) at the center of the analysis. This type of violence thus assumes the role of a destructive or constructive praxis. In other words, the perpetrator of political violence acts for three reasons: by power, to take it or to create it. But the 9/11 attacks have redefined this framework for analysis. In addition to the instrumental dimension, the expressive character of political violence has come to be increasingly considered. Therefore, the role of political authority as the main analytical axis of this type of violence has become limited. Twenty years after the al-Qaeda bombings, political violence took on another meaning. As such, by excess, or by default, there are other models that should be considered and that place the emphasis on political violence beyond instrumentality.