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

• Autore: Varon Jeremy <1969->
• Pubblicazione: Berkeley, Calif. ; ; London, : University of California Press, 2004
• Edizione: 1st ed.
• Descrizione fisica: 424p
• Disciplina: 322.42
• Soggetto topico: 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
• Classificazione: MD 8920
• 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.
• Titolo autorizzato: Bringing the war home
• ISBN: 1-282-35745-X; 9786612357459; 0-520-93095-9
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910826154703321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II