In the last thirty years suicide bombing has been the more numerous and destructive path taken to affect change in society. But self-immolation has once again become a focus. Why extreme political activists feel compelled to use these desperate tactics needs to be explained somehow.
A Brief Background on Two Extreme Political Methods
The Washington Post [i] reported that since 1983, there have been 1,840 incidents of suicide bombings with a huge increase occurring since 2001. More than 50 terrorist groups on all five continents have killed more than 20,000 people and injured in excess of 50,000.They have "adapted car bombs to make explosive belts, vests, toys, motorcycles, bikes, boats, backpacks and false-pregnancy stomachs." All ages and genders have been recruited; their targets ranged from soldier and police barracks, to wedding, funeral and market sites, and even New York office towers.
Self-immolation entered modern society's living rooms with the news coverage of the Vietnam War. In 1963, a seventy-three year old Buddhist monk, Quang Duc, in order to protest the discriminatory regime of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem, set fire to himself on a busy Saigon intersection. The scene shocked bystanders and forced the downfall of the Diem government.
The most recent manifestations of this protest occurred in Tunisia and Egypt. Mohammed Bouazizi self-immolated on Dec. 17, 2010 to protest his dire straits as a vegetable hawker in Tunisia. Within a month at least seven copycat protests occurred throughout North Africa and the Middle East resulting in the downfall of two governments in Tunisia and Egypt.
Theoretical Possibilities for Extreme Political Acts
Several theories have tried to explain why political activists choose these methods:
- Abraham Maslow in his theory of needs stated that all actions have several motivations. All humans want their basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing met; but also require their esteem needs of belonging, security, and being loved; plus want to live in a society that allows for self-actualization. When these needs become expectations too, then motivation for change is high.
- Crane Brinton in his classic on the subject of protest and rebellion, Anatomy of a Revolution, said that when the enterprising groups of a society perceive their opportunities in society eroding and their inner selves’ rebelling against those diminishing prospects, then a key element to revolution is set off. Certainly Bouazizi touched Tunisian souls and Quang Duc did in Vietnam.
- Dr. Vamik Volkan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia wrote Suicide Bombers after the 9-11 attack. He found that people who suffered real trauma or humiliation developed gaps of instability in their personality and needed group approval for self-esteem. Their ‘re-education' filled the gaps with a kind of 'concrete' of new beliefs leaving a sense of purpose, omnipotence, and immortality.[ii] Unlike regular suicide, suicide-bombers are highly motivated to self-actualize for the group. Volkan said that Palestinian approval of suicide-bombers had gone from 10% to 70% from 1996 to 2001.
So both suicide-bombers and self-immolators are highly motivated.
Effects of Suicide Bombing and Self-immolation, Briefly
Both methods of protest have inherent shock value. Newscasts attest to the horror and destruction of a bomb in a marketplace. Self-immolation seems to leave witnesses awe-struck. Both Quang Duc and Bouazzi had the effect of coalescing change however.
So far, suicide bombing has not achieved governmental change. It has terrorized populations but, by and large, it has only achieved resistance against their cause. One may argue that they have caused huge changes in the way their enemies now live, especially in terms of security and the inherent costs. But the terror of suicide-bombers, although disruptive and destructive, has not been an effective catalyst for change.
Those who choose self-immolation for a cause seem to touch the soul of any on-looker. They take their own life only, not others, and the shock motivates others to take up the torch, as it were. The self-immolation seems to light the cause. On the other hand, suicide-bombers have not generated revolution, only reaction.
Sources
- [i] Robin Wright, April 18, 2008, p. A18
- [ii] Suicide Bombers pp. 4-5
James Ellsworth - Now I am a Feature Writer for Suite 101 where I have almsot 60 articles. Also I am contributing regularly to Senior Living magazine.
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