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Finally, as I pointed out in my article, the term “low-level terrorism” appears to be a “term of art” within security agency circles given that a scholarly paper delivered in February of 2009 at an international conference incorporated it into its title as such:
Vinthagen, Stellan. "Labeling ‘Low Level Terrorism:’ The Out-Definition of Social Movements" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the ISA's 50th ANNUAL CONVENTION "EXPLORING THE PAST, ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE," New York Marriott Marquis, NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA, Feb 15, 2009.'
Abstract: This paper explores current state security tendency to label ordinary protests and opposition as "low level terrorism" or social movements as "terrorist environments" and the political and democratic consequences of such a politics of fear. The judic [the abstract cuts off here.]
The problem at its heart, in other words, is that this particular question in the DoD training exam is merely a glaring individual example of a larger trend and mentality – the criminalization of protest and dissent and its relegation to a category of “terrorism” legitimating the repression of dissent and free speech and assembly, ranging from declarations by public officials that dissenting ideas are “unpatriotic” and “traitorous” to training DoD employees that protest is terrorism-lite. The prospects revealed here are alarming.
