Terrorism in Sci fi - Thesis Question Help Appreciated!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Doggyforce

oh ya, I'm sorry. I re-read that first part, and it wasn't a slur at all, I was trying to respond to Alienweirdo's post, and her avatar looked like a girl, so I thought I'd try to be polite my saying Ms. and saying weirdo, cause I thought It'd be kind of funny.. sorry.

Ah... in that case, I tender my apologies, as well.

Okay... let's start again: Hi, and Welcome to the Chronicles and -- if we can put that in the past -- hope you enjoy your stay....

[Doggyforce]

:PP!
thank you.

[Ian Whates]

Picking up on the comments earlier in the thread with regard to Farah Mendlesohn's anthology Glorifying Terrorism, there's also a 'recommended reading list' at the back of the book containing 60-odd terrorism-related SF books. Farah asked all contributors to provide some input for this, so the resultant list is a combination of all our thoughts vetted and combined by Farah. it might prove of some use here.

[Dave]

It all depends how you define Terrorism. I remember a programme on BBC TV about 10-15 years ago (maybe just after the Berlin Wall came down) with an army general and others, predicting the future of warfare. They said that the old kind of conventionally fought wars would be a thing of the past. That future armies would fight factions and terrorists each with there own agenda. I am still amazed at how close their prediction was, and how soon it came true.

I don't have a definition to hand but Terrorists use 'Terror' to terrorize the general public's opinion towards their stated goals.

However, if you use a more general definition, wouldn't you also include - Luddites, Saboteurs, Chartists, Female Emancipators, Abolitionists, American Black Civil Rights?

As such, this kind of direct violent political struggle has always been with us. I'm sure someone else (JD) can give you an even earlier example, but '1984' has a Resistance movement known as the Brotherhood.

Edit: I have my own. I just watched 'Metropolis' and I don't think you can get an earlier example of a workers revolution in a scifi film than that.

[K. Riehl]

I thought of WASP by Eric Frank Russell. It's very much a freedom fighter take on the subject. He tries to create unrest and an over-reaction by the authorities which leads to more people turning against the government of an alien race. The main character goes as far as hiring local hitmen to perform assasinations.
The book was considered a "terrorist handbook" when it came out in 1957

[apokalypsis]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I think there's one difference there in Chris's post... many writers are a bit less likely to get into the subject with as much realistic detail as they once did. I recall working at a bookstore... one of the writers we had in for a signing had written a thriller with a scenario very like what actually happened with the World Trade Center, back in the mid-'90s, as I recall... When it happened, he was riddled with guilt for quite some time, afraid that what he wrote may have given the genuine terrorists some ideas on how to carry out such a scheme; he's tended to avoid such ideas since, no matter how good a story they may make. So that's another way in which it has affected sf... though you'd have to look up various writers' comments to have substantiation on how widely or which writers were so impacted.

I once wrote a short story that I loved more than anything else I had written, but I have held back on attempting to publish it for this very reason.

[WarlikeMenelaos]

Just to somewhat ressurect a dead thread, I just want to comment on the little 'rebels in Star Wars being terrorists thing'

Me and one of my mates were talking about that very subject. We discussed the 'new vision' that the prequels presented us with and the utter legitimacy of Palpatine's reign as Emperor. He was an elected official who was given emergency powers and then when his 'empire' proposal was brought forward the entire senate cheered and applauded.

Now, I think I know a few things about democracy and that seems quite legitimate to me. If we wanted to compare to historical events we can equate it to the rise of Augustus Caesar (the first emperor of Rome) All his powers were given to him by the senate in the hope that he would bring peace to the Republic that had been embroiled in civil war for many decades.

(As a side note I would've preferred if Lucas had made more of an attempt to compare Palps with Hitler instead of Augustus....considering Augustus was a good leader)

Now, if the Imperial Senate is the legimate ruling body and the Emperor is the legimate head of state then the rebellion is not a legitimate freedom fighting group but indeed a terrorist cell (at least in the eyes of the common people)

It is stated in 'A New Hope' that the Emperor has dissolved the senate and that would be the true moment that warrants a rebellion. However, the rebellion has been going on for years and seems to stem from the Jedi massacre.

It doesn't take a lot for the Jedi massacre to be covered over - Palps already mentioned the attempt at his life and the senate seems to agree with him when he makes the case that they are to be considered outlaws. In other words, they are enemies of the republic (at least that is how they are percieved) and the massacre would just be their response.

The destruction of Alderaan is mentioned, cited as the biggest evil act by the Empire. However, considering that the rebellion has probably been conducting 'terrorist' acts, the Empire wanted to demonstrate the power of its new weapon in an attempt to restore peace and order.

"demonstrate the power of its new weapon in order to restore peace and order"

Two words: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Both resulted in major civilian loss of life and were bombed in an attempt (an attempt that thankfully succeeded) to end the American war with Japan, thus finally bringing World War Two to a close. Considering the overall population of the galaxy, Alderaan was probably on a scale similar to the bombings of those two cities.

The service men who died on both death stars did have families remember and one must not forget that the second death star was under construction - therefore there were probably civilian workers aboard (contracters and the like) Therefore the rebellion killed a huge amount of people during their war when, despite everything else, Emperor Palpatine (elected official) had ended the civil wars, brought order to the galaxy and was cracking down on illegal ventures (Han Solo spaced his shipment of drugs (spice) when seeing Imperial star destroyers...this hints that the Imperials were trying to stop smugglers)

Overall, history will judge Palps as a bad guy considering the Empire lost. However, we now all know the truth that he was a great man, a visionary and the rightful ruler of the galaxy as elected by the senate and people of Coruscant.

Oh and btw, this whole post has been a joke....I hate the prequel trilogy and now when you look at it 'from a different point of view' Palpatine was justified in his actions. Palpatine of the original trilogy was evil, his empire was a nazi state and the rebels were the heroes. Lucas changed that.

[Quokka]

Probably not overly relevent but I wonder if in the Hyperion Series the Shrike could be seen as an AI's attempt at terrorism against a community?

I mean the AI created a weapon intended to create enough death that it would force an opponent into meeting a stated demand, in this case that the human deity would reveal itself and face the AI's deity (I dont think deity is exactly the correct term there).

Often Terrorism is a tactic used due to an inability to engage in more direct combat. Which might be for a variety of reasons, physical distance, unable to locate more wanted targets (as in the Hyperion example) or due to an imbalance in the military strength for direct combat?

[Who's Wee Dug]

<It’s a touchy subject, but I want to do my fifth chapter on Terrorism and the terrorist attacks/threats we currently face, and how it may affect Science Fiction.>

You could check out Ken Mcleod's The Stone Canal some interesting angles there.