A consortium of researchers dedicated to improving the understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism

New editor will take on post for START-Oxford University Press book series

Former University of Maryland (UMD) Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJS) Laura Dugan will be taking on a new role as editor for the START-Oxford University Press book series, replacing UMD CCJS Department Chair Gary LaFree. Professor Dugan recently accepted a job as Ralph Mershon Professor of Human Security and Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University, but will maintain her ties to START in her role as editor.

“I am delighted that Laura has agreed to join the editorial board for the START-Oxford University Press book series,” LaFree said. “This series has already produced a number of excellent contributions, and with Laura joining the enterprise I am sure that we will see many more in the years ahead.”

Dugan joins fellow editors Gary Ackerman (START Affiliate, University at Albany) and Anthony Lemieux (START Affiliate, Georgia State University) on the book series.

“We are so grateful for the work of the founding editors who have lent their expertise and energy to the START-Oxford book series, and who have really delivered important scholarly work in doing so with more in the pipeline,” START Director William Braniff said. “And we are equally grateful to Laura for her willingness to continue to represent the field of criminology among our editorial team, maintaining the interdisciplinary nature of START’s approach to terrorism studies.”

Current and forthcoming titles in this series

  • From Freedom Fighters to Jihadists: Human Resources of Non-State Armed Groups, by Vera Mironova (2019)
  • ISIS Propaganda: A Full-Spectrum Extremist Message, edited by Stephane J. Baele, Katharine A. Boyd and Travis G. Coan (2019)
  • Insurgent Terrorism: Intergroup Relationships and the Killing of Civilians, by Victor Asal, Brian J. Phillips, and R. Karl Rethemeyer (Forthcoming 2021)
  • Extremist Islam: Recognition and Response in Southeast Asia, by Kumar Ramakrishna (Forthcoming 2022)
  • Proto-State Media Systems: The Digital Rise of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, by Carol Winkler and Kareem El Damanhoury (Forthcoming 2022)
  • Former Extremists: Preventing and Countering Violence, edited by Gordon Clubb, Ryan Scrivens and Md. Didarul Islam (Forthcoming 2023)

About the book series

The Causes, Conduct and Consequences of Terrorism book series approaches terrorism conceptually as having a developmental “life-cycle.” Within this perspective, the series will treat terrorism as a phenomenon that has a set of interdependent phases: (1) the origins of extremism and the formation of terrorist groups; (2) terrorist dynamics and persistence; and (3) societal responses to terrorism.

The editorial team intends for the books—each about 200-300 pages in length, or about 80,000 words—to be accessible to a broad audience, including scholars, graduate students, policymakers and practitioners, while being rooted in rigorous social science.

Each of the books in the series must explore the topic of terrorism in a manner that is at once theoretically informed, empirically grounded and policy relevant. The series aims to fill lacunae in earlier scholarship on terrorism, which was sometimes limited in the topics that it could address and the insights it could derive by both a dearth of data and the attention of only a handful of academic disciplines.

The series as a whole will not be restricted to U.S. concerns or any single discipline, but will assess the phenomenon of terrorism globally, comparatively and from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

Authors from any discipline and university are encouraged to submit proposals. Proposal information and instructions can be found on START’s website here.