Breaking Laws

Acknowledgements 11
List of Abbreviations, Organizations, and Parties 13
Introduction to Breaking Laws 21

Part 1 Revolutionary Violence
Experiences of Armed Struggle in France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the United States
Isabelle Sommier
Translated by Marina Urquidi

1 Introduction to Part 1: Revolutionary Violence in Context 25

2 A Subject Concealed 29
Violence and Social Movements: Fragmented Analytic Traditions 29
Distinguishing Terrorism and Revolutionary Violence 32
The Silence Surrounding 1968 34
The ‘1968 Years’: A Cycle of Protest 36

3 A Revolutionary Period? 41
The International Context 41
The Student Revolts 44
The United States 45
Japan 46
Germany 48
France and Italy 49
The Generational Dimension of Revolt 50
The Growth of the Extreme Left 52
The United States 53
Japan 54
Germany 54
France 56
Italy 57
The Autonomous Movement 57

4 Radicalization Processes 61
Repression and Countermovements 61
Germany 62
Italy 63
Japan 65
The United States 66
Competition and Mutual Influences 66
The United States 67
Italy 69
Japan 71
France 74
Social Isolation 75
High-Risk Commitment and the Logics of Clandestine Action 80

5 Strategies of Violence 85
Propaganda of the Deed 86
The United States 86
Japan 87
France 87
Resistance and Urban Guerrilla Warfare 88
Germany 89
Italy 90
The Insurrectionary Model: Taking the Attack to the Heart of the
State 91
Anti-Imperialism and the Transnationalization of Actions 96
Germany 96
France 97
Japan 100

6 The End of a Cycle 105
Anti-Terrorist Policies 105
The United States 105
Japan 105
France 106
Germany 106
Italy 107
A Farewell to Arms 109
Italy 109
Germany 113
France 113
7 Conclusion to Part 1 119

Part 2 Civil Disobedience
Graeme Hayes and Sylvie Ollitrault

8 Introduction to Part 2: Civil Disobedience in Perspective 123

9 Definitions, Dynamics, Developments 131
Theorizing Civil Disobedience 131
Conscience and Collective Action, Direct and Indirect Disobedience 134
Civil Disobedience as ‘Performative’ 136
Direct and Indirect Disobedience Reconsidered 137
Conceptual Distinctions in Historical Overview 143
Quakerism 143
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) 145
Satyagraha According to Gandhi: Resistance of Body and Soul 147
The US Civil Rights Movement (1955-1965) and Beyond 150
Conclusion 152

10 Genealogies and Justifications in Contemporary Movements 155
Civil Disobedience in France 156
The Cultural Importance of Manifestos 157
Conscientious Objection and Anti-militarism 160
From Larzac to Notre Dame des Landes 161
Civil Disobedience in a Situation of Urgency 164
Action and Emergency 166
Urgency and Environmental Disobedience 171
Urgency and Undocumented Migrants 174
Disobedience and Neo-liberal Globalization 176
Disobedience and Global Justice 177
Disobedience and Professional Identities 178
Conclusion 183

11 Repertoires of Civil Disobedience 185
The Constraints of Illegal Action 185
Civil Disobedience as Technique 188
Civil Disobedience and Media Representation 192
Greenpeace, Reporters of Their Own Action 196
Civil Disobedience, Criminal Prosecution 197
Trials as Political Arenas 199
Civil Disobedience and Prosecution: The Case of GANVA 201
Networks of Commitment 207
Disobedience and Biographical Availability 209
Conclusion 212

12 Negotiating the Boundaries of Violence and Non-Violence 215
Property Destruction: A Form of Non-civil Disobedience? 216
Justifying and Legitimizing Property Destruction 222
Staging Action 227
The Relational Logic of Harms 232
The Semantic Construction of the Civic 236

13 Conclusion to Part 2 241
Biographical Notes 247
France 247
Germany 248
Italy 249
Japan 250
The United States 251

Bibliography 253
Index 265

Figures
Figure 1 Different Red Armies in Japan 73
Figure 2 Origins of Action Directe 78
Figure 3 Red Brigades Scissions 110

List of Figures and Tables
Tables
Table 1 Percentage of Americans considering the Vietnam War ‘a mistake’ (1965-1969) 43
Table 2 Percentage of American students qualifying themselves as ‘doves’ or ‘hawks’ (1967-1969) 43
Table 3 Causes of agitation on US campuses (1967-1968) 45
Table 4 SDS membership (1960-1968) 53
Table 5 Number of students who were part of the Japanese new left (1967-1974) 54
Table 6 Race riots and unrest in the United States from 1965 to 1967 68
Table 7 Number of attacks by three Italian organizations 71
Table 8 Consequences of uchigeba in Japan (1968-1980) 72
Table 9 Types of propaganda actions in Italy (percentage) 92
Table 10 Evolution of forms of action in Italy and in West Germany (1970-1983) as a percentage of total actions 94
Table 11 Number of victims of the far left in Italy and West Germany (1970-1983) 95
Table 12 Types of armed action in Italy and in West Germany 95
Table 13 Types of actions committed by Action directe on
French territory (1979-1987) (percentage) 98
Table 14 Number of victims of Action directe on French territory (1979-1987) 98
Table 15 Number of militants imprisoned for membership in the various BRs 111
Table 16 Regions in which BR members were charged (percentage) 111
Table 17 Italian militants’ profession (percentage) 112