B2856 - VIOLENZA POLITICA E TERRORISMO DOPO LA GUERRA FREDDA

Learning outcomes

The course intends to deal with the forms of political violence and terrorism that have emerged in the post-Cold War period (linked to post-ideological antagonism, mafia syndicates, failed States,...) and that have redetermined by the attack on the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001, up to investigating the development of globalised jihadist terrorism, so-called 'lone wolves' and white supremacism. Working on terminology and methodology, we will study: origins, development, operational phenomenology, contiguity and instrumentalisation, strategic aims, reactions of the security apparatuses and civil society, possible reasons for decline, and "security" repercussions of the main episodes of political violence and terrorism expressed in the USA, the Maghreb and the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Western Europe, some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, not forgetting Australia and New Zealand. A specific focus will be devoted to Italy, with particular attention to its internal transition - from the historical precedents of 'black' bombing and 'red' guerrilla warfare - towards Mafia and neo-Brigatist terrorist forms. The fundamental objective of the teaching lies in the knowledge of the theoretical and cultural foundations underlying the choice and exercise of political violence in the 21st century, with particular interest in democratic contexts.

Course contents

The course - which is open to all, with no prerequisites (for those who have not attended "Political Violence and Terrorism" as part of a three-year degree course, we recommend the preliminary and supplementary reading of Francesco Benigno, Terrore e Terrorismo. Saggio storico sulla violenza politica, Einaudi) - will consist of a first theoretical-cultural part that will highlight the evolution of the dynamics of subversion/eversion of a terrorist nature, within the broader framework of the manifestations of political violence typical of the post-Cold War period.

This will be followed by a second more extensive part, dedicated to the history of political violence and terrorism in the 21st century: operational phenomenology, development, diversification, contiguity and framing, strategic aims, reactions of the security apparatuses, reverberations of 'geopolitics of fear'.

The main case studies will be:

- USA (from the 1993 WTC bombings to the more recent 'lone wolves' attacks, passing through the demolition of the 'Twin Towers' and the organisation of sectarian militias of a supremacist nature);
- Middle East and the Maghreb (with an analysis that, starting from the Lebanese prodromes of the 1980s and the Algerian radicalism of the early 1990s, will deal with the first major Al-Qaeda attacks and the recomposition of the fundamentalist theatre in the aftermath of the fall of the so-called 'Islamic State');
- Former Soviet Union (from the 'Chechen operations' to the 'dirty wars');
- Latin America (with particular focus on the constitution of a terrorist hybridisation of the great 'narcos' criminality);
- Europe (from the the "Balkan hotbed" to the fundamentalist attacks in the continent's main metropolises).

A specific focus will be devoted to Italy, starting from the highlighting of the transition of the terrorist operational models and of the contrasting legislation (regime of special prisons, pentitism,...) from the old armed groups to the mafia organisations (from the massacre of the Rapido 904 of 23 December 1984 to the attacks "in Continente" of 1993-1994), arriving at neo-brigatism with the assassinations of Massimo D'Antona (1999) and Marco Biagi (2002).

At the same time, notions and analyses will also be given on terrorist events in Oceania (with regard to 'white supremacist' attacks) and Sub-Saharan Africa (concerning above all extreme political violence in the Failed States,...).

The last part of the course will focus on the reactions of populations and the "securitarian" establishment of a "society of fear" in the post-September 11 period, especially in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Readings/Bibliography

The course includes the systematic study of the following volumes:

• Luigi Manconi, Terroristi italiani. Le Brigate Rosse e la Guerra Totale, 1970-2008, Rizzoli, Milano 2008.

• Domenico Tosini, Martiri che uccidono: il terrorismo suicida nelle nuove guerre, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2012.

• Federico Tomasello (a cura di), Violenza e Politica dopo il Novecento, Il Mulino, Bologna 2020 [pp. 27-64; 107-130; 157-199; 211-234; 277-297].

• Davide Fiammenghi, L'evoluzione del terrorismo islamico: Dalle Primavere arabe al ritiro americano dalla Siria (2011-2020), Epoké, Novi Ligure 2021.

 

Following the specific selective indications provided by the lecturer, the student will have to move among the following other readings, making them the starting point for the elaboration and drafting of the paper to be then discussed during the oral exam (on the exam, see the following specific section):

 

• John Gray, Al-Qaeda e il significato della modernità, Fazi, Roma 2004.

• Domenico Tosini, Terrorismo e antiterrorismo nel XXI secolo, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2007.

• Arije Antinori (a cura di), Terrorismo e Comunicazione, in "Sicurezza e Scienze Sociali, n. 2, 2017.

• Giorgio Galli, Piombo Rosso. La storia completa della lotta armata in Italia dal 1970 a oggi, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, Milano 2004 [dal cap. "Senzani e i due partiti" al cap. "L'articolo 18 e Biagi"].

• Terrorismo e Mafia, in "Meridiana", n. 97, 2020.

Teaching methods

In compliance with the latest Campus guidelines, the course will take place with physical presence in the classroom.


The course - which will make extensive use of iconographic and audiovisual repertories of the period, archival documentation and mass-media representations (including fictions) - will be constantly supported by slides and infographics, as well as moments of interactive discussion with the students, also mediated by the possible intervention of external experts.

Assessment methods

Attending students:

- 1 intermediate written test (consisting of pointed questions and 4 open questions) will be taken during the course.

- In the event of a positive result in the written intermediate test, the student will have access to the oral interview, in which he/she will discuss with the lecturer the contents and results of the paper (on a topic of his/her choice agreed on with the lecturer), which must be handed in at least 10 days before the call for applications.

- The paper, which must be accompanied by footnotes and a final bibliography, may range from a minimum of 20,000 characters (footnotes and spaces included) to a maximum of 30,000 characters (footnotes and spaces included). The bibliography is excluded from the calculation of the strokes.

- The final mark is made up of the average of the intermediate mark obtained in the written test and the mark obtained in the oral test, also taking into account any progress in learning and in the capacity for critical analysis recorded by the student.

- It will be possible to attempt to make up any insufficiency during the Extra Examination, which will be scheduled on a date after the course has ended (and in any case before the start of the oral examinations).

- Those who have been found wanting in both the intermediate written examination and the Extra Examination will still have the opportunity to remain in the attending course by taking a Total Examination covering the entire course programme: this Total Examination may be attempted in the morning of one of the first two Summer Examination Calls, so that - in the event of a sufficient mark - one has the margin to participate with one's paper in the oral examination of the following call.

- It is not possible to take the midterm and the oral examination without prior online registration on AlmaEsami.

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Non-attending students:

 
- The examination consists of a written and an oral part. Before taking the oral examination, the student must take the total written test (consisting of 10 open questions), focusing on the study of the following volumes:

• Terrorismo e Mafia, in "Meridiana", n. 97, 2020.

• Domenico Tosini, Martiri che uccidono: il terrorismo suicida nelle nuove guerre, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2012.

• Federico Tomasello (a cura di), Violenza e Politica dopo il Novecento, Il Mulino, Bologna 2020 [pp. 27-64; 107-130; 157-199; 211-234; 277-297].

• Luigi Manconi, Terroristi italiani. Le Brigate Rosse e la Guerra Totale, 1970-1008, Rizzoli, Milano 2008.

 

- The oral exam will verify, in general, the acquisition of the concepts, dynamics, and fundamental facts underlying the programme; and in particular it will focus - in place of the in-depth thesis - on the following volume:

• Davide Fiammenghi, L'evoluzione del terrorismo islamico: Dalle Primavere arabe al ritiro americano dalla Siria (2011-2020), Epoké, Novi Ligure 2021.

 

- The full written test may be taken during the Extra Test (having contacted the lecturer in good time about this intention) or on the morning of an Examination Appeal: in this case, if the mark on the written test is sufficient, you will be admitted to the oral examination, which takes place on the same day, or the following day if there are a large number of students.

Teaching tools

The teacher uses slides presentations, photographs, mass-media representations (including authorial dramas), archive audiovisuals and historical documentaries.

Office hours

See the website of Domenico Guzzo