Abstract
Political assassinations and executions are analyzed from moral and pragmatic angles. The development of assassinations is traced, its theoretical foundations are explored and a constructivist definitional approach is taken to the subject. Based on the specificity of the target and the moral basis, assassinations are set apart from terror, and the different distinctions between terror, state sponsored terror, assassinations and executions are presented and explained. The impact and results of assassinations and executions are discussed in a cross cultural perspective, concluding that these forms of killing can be viewed as an alternative, and lethal, form of political justice. The article ends with a discussion of the moral dimension and suggess a list of further reading.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
Pages | 140-153 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780123739858 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Assassinations
- Constructivism
- Executions
- Justice
- Legitimacy
- Morality
- Murder
- Organized crime
- Political
- State sponsored terror
- Terror