Book Description

In the mid-1970s, a wave of contentious radicalism swept through Italy. Groups and movements such as "Proletarian youth," "metropolitan Indian" and "the area of Autonomy" practiced new forms of activism, confrontational and often violent. Creative and brutal, intransigent and playful, the movements flourished briefly before being suppressed through heavy policing and political exclusion. This is the first full-length study in English of these movements. Building on Sidney Tarrow’s "cycle of contention" model and drawing on a wide range of Italian materials, Phil Edwards tells the story of a unique and fascinating group of political movements, and of their disastrous engagement with the mainstream Left. As well as shedding light on a neglected period of twentieth century history, this book offers lessons for understanding today’s contentious movements ("No Global," "Black Bloc") and today’s "armed struggle" groups. This book will be of great interest to scholars in the fields of Italian politics and society; the sociology of social movements; and terrorism and political violence.