@article{ref1,
title="The spectacle of terrorism: exploring the notions of 'blind acting out' and 'phatic communication'",
journal="Contempoary voices: Journal of terrorism research",
year="2016",
author="Kailemia, Wilson Mwenda",
volume="7",
number="2",
pages="91-102",
abstract="The present paper proposes the parallels between 'staged' incidences of terrorism and 'spectacular public disorder' as a supplementary reading of terrorism. I claim that, while the spectacular in both is not par se- or even an exhaustive- account of how terrorism functions, there is an aspect of what the French philosopher Alain Badiou) has referred to as Passage a l'acte ('blind acting out')- coined apropos of the 2006 Paris riots- which should exercise our attention. The methodology of passage a l'acte is to draw maximum attention to an issue by letting the extended post-attack coverage 'do the talking'. The article also shows how 'phatic communication', a term coined by Malinowski, is an important component of passage a l'acte  Keywords: Terrorism,  Terror,  Terrorist,  Jihad, Islamism<p />",
language="en",
issn="2049-7040",
doi="10.15664/jtr.1192",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.15664/jtr.1192"
}