Social Movements, Political Violence, and the State
Social Movements, Political Violence, and the State
This book presents empirical research on the nature and structure of political violence. While most studies of social movements focus on single-nation studies, Donatella della Porta uses a comparative research design to analyze movements in two countries--Italy and Germany--from the 1960s to the 1990s. Through extensive use of official documents and in-depth interviews, della Porta is able to explain the actors' construction of external political reality, and to build a theory on political violence that synthesizes the various interactions among political actors.
- Explains political violence as outcome of 'normal' politics rather than irrational political pathology
- Research uses comparative logic for studying countries and for studying time periods
- Combination of trial and police records and interviews with militants offers solid portrayal of actors' social construction of reality
Reviews & endorsements
"...this is a book to be read and reckoned with. The comparison between Germany and Italy is compelling, often leading one to see each country's experience in a different light. The insights into the dynamics of violent social movements, particularly those regarding the role of the police and the ways that groups and individuals move into terrorism are trenchant and original. In general, the book demonstrates the effectiveness of using an institutional approach for studying political violence." Ted Perlmutter, German Politics and Society
"There are...fascinating insights in these pages." Political Science Quarterly
"These descriptive accounts are well grounded in a skilled and extensive review of the scholarly literature on terrorism and on social movements, supported by an impressive bibliography....Social Movements, Political Violence, and the State will constitue required reading for scholars of political movements and political violence, and for Italianists, Germanists, and West Europeanists generally. Its contributions to comparative research are extensive, its findings detailed and provocative, and its data base exemplary. Della Porta has written an excellent book, which will serve to extend discussion of social movements, political violence, and state response." Karen Beckwith, Italian Politics & Society
"This is a book representing the best tradition of social movement research....The analysis first presents an analytically well-organized account of the timing and the structuring of violent protest in Germany and Italy that serves as the basis for the comaprison that follows....stimulating..." Klaus Eder, American Journal of Sociology
"...this is a very important book. Anyone interested in small-group political violence and/or social movements in general will find it worthwhile. Social Movements, Political Violence, and the State, offers a powerful model for research that will, I hope, be imitated." Robert W. White, Contemporary Sociology
Product details
November 2006Paperback
9780521029797
292 pages
229 × 152 × 19 mm
0.462kg
8 b/w illus. 7 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- Foreword Sidney Tarrow
- List of abbreviations
- Preface
- 1. Comparative research on political violence
- 2. Political violence in Italy and Germany: a periodization
- 3. Violence and the political system: the policing of protest
- 4. Organizational processes and violence in social movements
- 5. The logic of underground organizations
- 6. Patterns of radicalization in political activism
- 7. Individual commitment in the underground
- 8. Social movements, political violence and the state
- a conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index.
