Cited by 93Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesTerrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political ViolenceHomicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

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Dying Without Killing: Self‐Immolations, 1963–2002

Biggs, Michael·2005·Making Sense of Suicide Missions

DOI 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276998.003.0005

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Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of self-immolation in the last four decades, from an original database of over 500 individual acts. It is divided into five main sections. The first sketches the history of self-immolation. The second examines the prevalence of self-immolation among causes, across countries, and over time. The third section focuses on the orchestration of the individual action. The fourth section tackles the central question — why? — by elucidating the various motivations for self-immolation. The final section considers the effects of the action.

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“…collective action, such as via strikes, or with more solitary tactics, like self-immolation, has been documented by scholars in a variety of ﬁ elds studying plu-ralism, political communication, and social movements (cf., Biggs 2005; Gamson 1975; Luders 2010; Scott 2008; Stephan and Chenoweth 2008).”
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Introduction
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Copyright Page
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Suicide and the Modern Subject
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Series Editor’s Foreword
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Dedication
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Notes
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The Body Anterior
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“Examining five hundred thirty three individual acts of self-immolation from 1963 to 2002 in three dozen countries, Biggs (2005) estimates that the number of self-immolation cases would be somewhere between eight hundred and three thousand (177).”
Background

Authors: Biggs, M.
Affiliations: University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author: Biggs, Michael
ORCID: Biggs, Michael
Venue: Making Sense of Suicide Missions
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2005-03-17
Pages: 173-208
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276998.003.0005
OpenAlex: W40231878
Semantic Scholar: eda8c129157a0bdd0b4b2f463fa2fc3d7acd0bbb
Cited by: 93
References: 76
Citations by year: 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
FWCI: 5.12
Type: book chapter
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Oxford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Funders: Harvard University
Central Washington University
University of Cambridge
Economic and Social Research Council
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
Keywords: self-immolation, suicide, nonviolent resistance, political violence

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Dying Without Killing: Self‐Immolations, 1963–2002

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