The Logic of Terror

Abstract

Non-discursively or intuitively, it seems to me that the terror raids on 15 October 2007 were inevitable. The subjugation of Maori via New Zealand's juridical system and, specifically, under the confining discourse of 'terror suppression' feels logical within the context of the 'age of terror'. From this very identifiable context, this chapter confronts the threat to the fundamental rights of Maori and all New Zealanders that the terror raids perpetrated by examining the spread of the logic of terror through global discourses. By logic if terror, I refer to the pervasive overarching discourse of 'terror' that has become infused within everyday life since 11 September 2001 (hereafter referred to as '9/11'). This definition is in opposition to the notion of 'terror' commonly associated with 'acts of terrorism' enacted by those framed within the logic of terror as 'known terrorists'. Within the logic of terror, it is the pre-emptive assertion of the will of the powerful over typically 'othered' groups that I envisage as terrorism. Central to this chapter is the question of how have we arrived at this point? That is, this paper examines the social function that the logic of terror has played in determining political and. social control tactics that include the terror raids on Ngai Tuhoe. What conditions have enabled the regularities of terrorism possible? How in the New Zealand postcolonial context have we become subjects of the logic of terror?