THE CONCEPT OF TERRORISM IN THE WRITINGS OF JEAN BAUDRILLARD

Abstract

This paper examines the key postulates addressed in the writings of the prominent French thinker Jean Baudrillard, with particular emphasis on the theory of terrorism and the phenomenon of contemporary terrorism. For Baudrillard, terrorism is not merely a form of physical violence; it is also a symbolic act deeply intertwined with the development of the media. In his view, violence in the form of terrorism becomes a performance, a spectacle transmitted through the media, thereby producing a new type of reality. In the contemporary era, terrorism has emerged as both a response to and a form of resistance against pervasive globalisation, as well as against the reluctance of the West to acknowledge the diversity of cultures, traditions, and religions across the world. Baudrillard further argues that the media function as ‘allies’ of terrorism, insofar as they grant terrorist acts planetary visibility in real time. Terrorists are thus not merely agents of a particular form of political protest; rather, their actions become part of a simulated reality that is inseparable from the media in contemporary society.