The Spirit of Terrorism

By Jean Baudrillard

Until September 11 we had had no symbolic event on a world scale that marked a setback for globalization itself.

Baudrillard sees the power of the terrorists as lying in the symbolism of slaughter – not merely the reality of death, but in a sacrifice that challenges the whole system. Where previously the old revolutionary sought to conduct a struggle between real forces in the context of ideology and politics, the new terrorist mounts a powerful symbolic challenge which, when combined with high-tech resources, constitutes an unprecedented assault on an over-sophisticated and vulnerable West. This new edition is updated with the essays “Hypotheses on Terrorism” and “Violence of the Global.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verso
• Release date: Jun 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781781689875

Jean Baudrillard

David P. Nelson has been performing and teaching South Indian drumming since 1975. From his principal teacher, the renowned T. Ranganathan, he learned to accompany a wide range of styles, including Bharata Natyam, South India's classical dance. He has a PhD in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, where he is currently adjunct assistant professor of music, specializing in South Indian drumming.