Abstract
Political assassinations and executions constitute a special form of aggression and violence. These terms are rhetorical devices used to create a persuasive culturally meaningful account attempting to explain a particular act of taking the life of a specific person against his or her wish. Most such killings have something to do with the ideology or role of the victim. Hence, and contrary to typical homicides, assassinations do not involve a murderer and a victim who know each other. Assassinations differ from terror killings in that they are aimed at a specific persona. The entry reviews the origins of assassinations, its different definitions, categories and the impact and results of such killings. We also examine the connections between assassinations and political justice as well as some cross-cultural illustrations.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict: Volume 1-4, Third Edition |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Pages | 344-356 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Volume | 2 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780128201954 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Assassinations
- Constructionism
- Drones
- Executions
- Justice
- Killing
- Murder
- Politics
- Target
- Terror