Juergensmeyer Critical Review

Menreet Kaur

Juergensmeyer’s book is crucial to highlighting the vicious association with religion and violence. In this chapter, he draws a distinct relationship between the power of human humiliation, sexuality, and marginalization and how it profoundly drives religious terrorism. Also, he gives pertinent examples of how fundamental religious groups are constantly in a power struggle with the secular state.

A key term that was coined in this chapter by Juergensmeyer is "symbolic empowerment". He describes this as “an act of being involved in violence [which] provided a sense of empowerment disproportionately greater than what the violence actually achieved”. I think this is a brilliant concept because regardless of the amount of attacks that the terrorists carry out, a win is hardly in their odds, but it is that sense of power and the ethereal connection with God which pushes them forward.

He puts humiliation and the marginalized society firstly at the brunt of brewing violence through sophisticated organized groups providing them the moral justification, social support and military equipment for armed action. Here, he talks about recruiting poor youths aged 17-25 but I feel that he should have explored a younger, more pre-pubescent group.

I question his expansive view on how repressed sexual roles, both literally and physically contributes to religious violence. I feel like this stance lacks concrete theoretical basis and he seems to be stretching ones physiological needs a tad too far. It seems to be that he made women to be the object of finality for the terrorists. However, I agree with his point on terrorists not condoning “sex is out of place” with regards to homosexuals and empowered women because of their extreme conservatism.

Finally, to be respectable and credible in the eyes of the public and state, Juergensmeyer talks about how terrorist groups constantly keep their communities in check, eradicating any bad weeds and also randomly going on deadly missions for causing immediate chaos, crumbling public order. He claims that this shows how “fragile” public order is, however I disagree. It shows how strong, resilient and even tolerant the public, governments and media are of them.

Juergensmeyer provides illustrative factual descriptions and an in-depth perspective through his interviews with terrorists within each of the points that he raised in this chapter.

Reference:
Juergensmeyer M,. 2003. Warriors’ Power. Ch 10 in Terror in the mind of God: the global rise of religious violence, Berkeley, CA., University of California Press. 187-215. Via RL.