Powers to outlaw or proscribe terrorist organisations have become cornerstones of global counter-terrorism regimes. In this comprehensive volume, an international group of leading scholars reflect on the array of proscription regimes found around the world, using a range of methodological, theoretical and disciplinary perspectives from Political Science, International Relations, Law, Sociology and Criminology. These perspectives consider how domestic political and legal institutions intersect with and transform the use of proscription in countering terrorism and beyond. The chapters advance a range of critical perspectives on proscription laws, processes and outcomes, drawing from a global range of cases including Australia, Canada, the EU, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the UK and the USA.


Using single and comparative cases, the authors emphasise the impacts of proscription on freedoms of speech and association, dissent, political action and reconciliation. The chapters demonstrate the manifold consequences for diasporas and minorities, especially those communities linked to struggles overseas against oppressive regimes, and stress the significance of language and other symbolic practices in the justification and extension of proscription powers. The volume concludes with an in-depth interview on the blacklisting of terror groups with the former U.S. Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.


This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Terrorism and Political Violence.