1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910456139303321

Autore

Varon Jeremy <1969->

Titolo

Bringing the war home [[electronic resource] ] : the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and the revolutionary violence in the sixties and seventies / / Jeremy Varon

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, Calif. ; ; London, : University of California Press, 2004

ISBN

1-282-35745-X

9786612357459

0-520-93095-9

Descrizione fisica

424p

Classificazione

MD 8920

Disciplina

322.42

Soggetti

Radicalism - United States - History - 20th century

Political violence - Germany (West) - History - 20th century

Political violence - United States - History - 20th century

New Left - Germany (West) - History - 20th century

New Left - United States - History - 20th century

Baader-Meinhof gang

Radicalism - Germany (West) - History - 20th century

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Key Acronyms -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. "Agents of Necessity" -- Chapter 2. The Importance of Being Militant -- Chapter 3. "Hearts and Minds" -- Chapter 4. The Excesses and Limits of Revolutionary Violence -- Chapter 5. Deadly Abstraction -- Chapter 6. "Democratic Intolerance" -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In this first comprehensive comparison of left-wing violence in the United States and West Germany, Jeremy Varon focuses on America's Weather Underground and Germany's Red Army Faction to consider how and why young, middle-class radicals in prosperous democratic societies turned to armed struggle in efforts to overthrow their states. Based on a wealth of primary material, ranging from interviews to FBI



reports, this book reconstructs the motivation and ideology of violent organizations active during the 1960's and 1970's. Varon conveys the intense passions of the era--the heat of moral purpose, the depth of Utopian longing, the sense of danger and despair, and the exhilaration over temporary triumphs. Varon's compelling interpretation of the logic and limits of dissent in democratic societies provides striking insights into the role of militancy in contemporary protest movements and has wide implications for the United States' current "war on terrorism."Varon explores Weatherman and RAF's strong similarities and the reasons why radicals in different settings developed a shared set of values, languages, and strategies. Addressing the relationship of historical memory to political action, Varon demonstrates how Germany's fascist past influenced the brutal and escalating nature of the West German conflict in the 60's and 70's, as well as the reasons why left-wing violence dropped sharply in the United States during the 1970's. Bringing the War Home is a fascinating account of why violence develops within social movements, how states can respond to radical dissent and forms of terror, how the rational and irrational can combine in political movements, and finally how moral outrage and militancy can play both constructive and destructive roles in efforts at social change.