Unquestionably, the events of September 11th have reshaped the debate over globalization. A trend that many economists characterized as irresistible suddenly appears less so. Foreign assembly operations have become less attractive to U.S. corporations now that there is the fact, or even the danger, that their trucks will be stuck in mile-long queues at the […]
Terrorist attacks on and since September 11th have stimulated public soul-searching, military and diplomatic responses, and efforts to reform public policy. Both the attacks and responses to them have raised a host of questions about social organization, basic social institutions, how people mobilize amid crises, and how differences of culture and politics shape conflict and cooperation.
This website features an extraordinary and still-expanding collection of essays by leading social scientists from around the country and the world. These are efforts by social scientists to bring theoretical and empirical knowledge to bear on the events of Sept. 11, their precursors, and what comes after.
We have asked the authors of these essays to write against two-week deadlines. Much to their credit they have obliged, even when it is difficult to come by sure knowledge in a time of quickly changing circumstances.
These essays are intended as resources for teachers—especially college and university instructors—who want to address the unfolding events in their courses from the perspectives of the social sciences. We hope they may also serve journalists and others who seek a guide to academic knowledge related to these events. Not least they are for all of us who seek deeper understanding in troubling times.
Ten years after these essays were published, contributors to After September 11 were asked to reflect on what they wrote and to explore what had changed and what remained the same since those harrowing times, resulting in the essay collection 10 Years after September 11.
After September 11
What’s New After September 11?
by Dick Howard
Introduction Must the intellectual, or the leftist—who need not be identical—always adopt a critical position, declaring that the glass is half-empty? Must the intellectual, or the leftist, always oppose the government, or the imperial hegemon? Must the intellectual, or the leftist, always take the side of the minority, the underdog, the victim—and in so doing, […]
After September 11
The Predicament of Diaspora and Millennial Islam: Reflections in the Aftermath of September 11
by Pnina Werbner
Introduction One intellectual response to September 11 has been an outpouring of scholarly commentaries, each in turn suggesting an interpretation of September 11 from a particular personal and disciplinary angle. In the present paper I reflect, like these other commentaries, on the impact of September 11 from my own scholarly perspective, that of an anthropologist […]
After September 11
Living with the Hegemon: European Dilemmas
by William Wallace
The tragedy of September 11th 2001 demonstrated that the United States was not invulnerable. The American response—the skilful application of military power, backed by active diplomacy, leading to the rapid collapse of the Taliban regime—demonstrated that America nevertheless remains the dominant global power, militarily, economically, diplomatically. The immediate impact of the American success in Afghanistan—achieved […]
After September 11
The Globalization of Informal Violence, Theories of World Politics, and “The Liberalism of Fear”
by Robert O. Keohane
The attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, have incalculable consequences for domestic politics and world affairs. Reliable predictions about these consequences are impossible. However, it may be worthwhile, even at this early point, to reflect on what these acts of violence reveal about the adequacy of our theories of world politics. In […]
After September 11
Violence, Law and Justice in a Global Age
by David Held
On Sunday, 23rd September 2001, the novelist, Barbara Kingsolver wrote in The Los Angeles Times: ‘It’s the worst thing that’s happened, but only this week. Two years ago, an earthquake in Turkey killed 17,000 people in a day, babies and mothers and businessmen…. The November before that, a hurricane hit Honduras and Nicaragua and killed […]
After September 11
9/11 and the New ‘Anti-politics’ of ‘Security’
by Kanishka Jayasuriya
The dramatic events of September 11, 2001 have ramifications for the nature of global governance as well as the institutions of liberal democracy. The most serious danger these events pose is their potential to usher in, under the appealing cloak of ‘security’, a debilitating a form of ‘anti politics’ that marginalises the constructive conflicts—the debate […]
After September 11
Is Cyber Terror Next?
by Dorothy E. Denning
Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attack against the United States, hackers took to the Internet to voice their rage. A group called the Dispatchers announced they would destroy Web servers and Internet access in Afghanistan and target nations that support terrorists. Led by a 21-year-old security worker “Hackah Jak” from Ohio, the group of […]
After September 11
The Attack on Humanity: Conflict and Management
by I. William Zartman
The Attack on Humanity of 11 September is captured in two contradictory images. On one hand, it is portrayed as a response to globalization, on the other as religious rage. Both provide insights and implications. The September attack is the backside of globalization, the first and fiercest reaction of its kind. It was reverse globalization […]
After September 11
The Reach of Transnationalism
by Riva Kastoryano
September 11 shook the imagination with an intensity like the attack itself. The first question people asked was Who would commit such a crime? Tied to this was another question: who was capable of carrying it out? Obviously, such an “action” was the work (indeed the “l’oeuvre”) of a well organized group with a great […]