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“The State Facing Its Barbarians”: How Can Terrorism Be Turned Into Statistics?
Published on 2 November 2026
Written in collaboration with sociologist, political scientist, and civil engineer Vincent Spenlehauer, this book reveals how, in France, terrorism is perceived as a “barbaric” act, an “anomaly” originating from outside the country, which civil society struggles to comprehend because it remains confined to a “matter of state,” managed by the government far from public scrutiny.
Yet the authors pose the following questions: Isn’t terrorism, above all, a social phenomenon linked, in particular, to the way the state acts through its public policies? And how can public policy on this issue be improved?
Viewing terrorism as a phenomenon that arises within society does not mean excusing it. On the contrary, it means equipping ourselves with the intellectual tools to understand why it persists and what we can do to improve public policy in order to limit its effects.
Does explaining terrorism mean excusing it?
In response to those who believe that “explaining” terrorism “is already a way of excusing it to some extent,” Jérôme Ferret points out that, on the contrary, terrorist violence “tells us less about the enemy than about ourselves, our governments, their promises, their failures, and their gray areas” and that “refusing to listen to it is to condemn ourselves to repeating it without ever understanding it.” ”
Thus, according to the authors, viewing terrorism as a phenomenon produced within society does not mean excusing it. On the contrary, it means “equipping ourselves with the intellectual tools to understand why it persists” and identifying what can be improved in public policy to limit its effects rather than amplify them.
In light of this oversight, the authors propose avenues for reflection to better understand terrorism and avoid repeating past failures.
Quantifying Terrorism: A Future Challenge for Economists?
Bomb-proof trash cans, “anti-killer truck” barriers, artificial intelligence to detect suspicious behavior… The government is investing in numerous counterterrorism measures whose effectiveness we know little about. The authors advocate for tools to measure government action in this area.
Faced with this “difficulty in quantifying terrorism,” they cite statistical analyses conducted on traffic accidents:
“In the early 1960s, [the American physician William Haddon simplified the issue of traffic accidents by performing] a few economic calculations along the lines of “given that one life saved spares the community so many euros and that every minute without emergency assistance increases the risk of death for vehicle occupants by a certain amount, what investment should the community make to increase the efficiency of emergency response?.” [Thus,] the difficulty of quantifying terrorism in statistical terms should not deter us from attempting to apply [this type of framework] to the realm of public policy. ”
In keeping with the tradition of the common good — a concept cherished by the founder of TSE, Jean Tirole — Jérôme Ferret and Vincent Spenlehauer have produced a compelling book that illustrates the richness and quality of the education provided at the Toulouse School of Economics.
L'État face à ses barbares. Vers une nouvelle sociologie du terrorisme et de la violence.
(The State Confronts Its Barbarians: Toward a New Sociology of Terrorism and Violence.)
by Jérôme Ferret & Vincent Spenlehauer.
- Published on October 21, 2026, by Hermann.
- 256 pages
- List price: €22
See also
Économie du désordre mondial (Economy of Global Disorder) : A Best-Seller That Fuels Public Debate
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