Sociologist Gérôme Truc Explains Individual and Collective Responses to Terror

On Thursday, October 18, sociologist Gérôme Truc participated in a special public program at the 9/11 Memorial Museum to discuss individual and collective responses to acts of terror and violence.

Truc drew from his research conducted in cities that were recent targets of terrorism, such as Paris, New York, Madrid and London, to explore why attacks elicit expressions of grief and solidarity from millions of people around the world, and how media coverage will affect how people view these events.

“When a society reacts to terrorist attack, what this society is reacting at is what it can perceive of the event though the media,” said Truc. “When you are not directly a witness or a victim of the attack, the individuals are reacting to what they perceive of the attack though the media, so the media coverage is like directly embedded, part of the event. You can’t speak about the terrorist attacks without taking into account its media coverage.”

You can watch the full program here. Click here to find out more about the fall 2018 public programming season at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff