This paper uses an interesting and but rather neglected theoretical discussion of Karl Marx’s Historical Materialism in
order to shed light on the discourse of terrorism that pervades the contemporary global society, and present a class theory
of terrorism based on the study of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. This theory states that terrorism is an expression of
an unending class struggle implicit in the hidden structures of oppression and structured contradictions of global capitalist
system. The antagonistic class relations between the ruling class and the lumpen class translate into state and individual
terrorism that has featured prominently in the recent times. Through this perspective, it is argued that: the discursive frame
of terrorism cannot be analysed in isolation of its class nature and the socio-economic conditions that gave rise to it; and
that investigating terrorism must be limited to specific context and society that is crucial to the explication of the action that
will be required to transform that context. Boko Haram insurgency is a potentially useful model for the case discussed,
thereby making it possible to develop an analytical construct and explanation for terrorism across societies. The paper
concludes that as long as the endemic socio-economic problems caused by global capitalism remains, the use of individual
terrorism will inevitably become a recurrent event or normal social response to the state of affairs.