A comparison between the legal definition of terrorism and the social construction of terrorism in political and media discourse.

语言在制定政府政策和告知立法方面发挥着重要作用，其中一个极其相关的例子涉及恐怖主义的定义，这可能影响社会如何定义和惩罚犯罪活动。我的博士学位的主要目的是测试恐怖主义的法律定义在多大程度上恐怖主义2000年恐怖主义法案（TA 2000）的第1节框架英国的政治和媒体话语。在此之前，Greene（2017）断言，法律在政治辩论中发挥的作用被夸大了。另一个次要目的是测试“恐怖主义”和“极端主义”被混为一谈的程度，正如Onursal和Kirkpatrick（2021）所声称的那样，以及这在恐怖主义的定义、法治和尊重人权方面可能意味着什么。问题陈述和研究问题假设，虽然政治和媒体话语有时符合恐怖主义的法律定义，但很多情况并非如此，并且“极端主义”的标签经常与“恐怖主义”混为一谈。支持这些假设的分析可能会揭示出其中的政治利益，以及进一步扩大恐怖主义定义的潜力。我的分析将阐明媒体是如何报道某些行动的，以及由此产生的公众对恐怖主义和极端主义的看法。它还可能引发对法治和人权的严重担忧。例如，如果将“极端主义”与“恐怖主义”混为一谈，那么使用反恐措施来应对极端主义可能会正常化，即使极端主义观点不一定会导致暴力行动。

Language plays an important role in framing government policy and informing legislation, and anextremely relevant instance of this involves definitions of terrorism, which can impact on howsociety defines and punishes criminal activity. The main aim of my PhD is to test the extent to whichthe legal definition of terrorism in section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA 2000) frames Britishpolitical and media discourse. This follows Greene's (2017) assertion that the role the law plays inframing political debates has been overstated. A subsidiary aim is to test the extent to which'terrorism' and 'extremism' have been conflated, as claimed by Onursal and Kirkpatrick (2021), andwhat this might mean in relation to the definition of terrorism, the rule of law, and respect forhuman rights.Problem statement and research questionsIt is hypothesised that while political and media discourse is sometimes in accordance with the legaldefinition of terrorism, much is not, and that the label 'extremism' is frequently conflated with'terrorism'. Analysis supporting these hypotheses may reveal much about the political interests atplay and the potential for the definition of terrorism to be further widened. My analysis willilluminate how certain actions are reported in the media and the consequent public perceptions ofterrorism and extremism. It could also raise serious concerns surrounding the rule of law and humanrights. For example, if extremism' is conflated with 'terrorism', the use of counterterrorismmeasures in response to extremism could be normalised, even though extremist views do notnecessarily result in violent action.