Terrorism, myth, and the power of ethnographic praxis

"Terrorism," like "witchcraft," is a concept that anthropology can aid in d econstructing. The mythos of "the terrorist" has become part of the politic al drama of our time despite a lack of concreteness in its definition. Draw ing on a decade of ethnographic research with Sikh separatist militants, th is article focuses on how the imagining of terror has replaced the reality of armed conflict among the Sikhs in Western legal and policy settings. Spe cific examples of anthropological intervention in this arena illustrate how face-to face knowledge can contribute to greater accuracy in judicial and legislative decisions regarding terrorism. Given the life-and-death importa nce of these decisions, anthropologists of conscience are called on to offe r the very special grassroots perspective they have as policies are develop ed nationally and internationally, bringing the concrete realism of ethnogr aphy into courtrooms, halls of parliaments, and executive offices around th e world.