Title Death in the shape of a young girl : women's political violence in the Red Army Faction / Patricia Melzer

Published New York : New York University Press, 2015

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 339 pages) : illustrations Series Gender and political violence series Gender and political violence series. Contents Introduction: "An excess of women's emancipation" : gender, political violence, and feminist politics -- The other half of the sky : revolutionary violence, the RAF, and the autonomous women's movement -- "Between a rock and a hard place" : the "betrayal" of motherhood among the women of the RAF and Movement 2nd June -- "Terrorist girls" and "wild furies" : feminist responses to media representations of women terrorists during the "German Autumn" of 1977 -- The gendered politics of starving : (state) power and the body as locus of political subjectivities in the RAF hunger strikes -- "We women are the better half of humanity anyway" : revolutionary politics, feminism, and memory in the writings of female terrorists -- Conclusion: "Can political violence be feminist?" Summary "In the early 1970s, a number of West German left-wing activists took up arms, believing that revolution would lead to social change. In the years to come, the bombings, shootings, kidnappings and bank robberies of the Red Army Faction (RAF) and Movement 2nd June dominated newspaper headlines and polarized legislative debates. Half of the terrorists declaring war on the West German state were women who understood their violent political actions to be part of their liberation from restrictive gender norms. As women participating in a brand of systematic violence usually associated with masculinity, they presented a cultural paradox, and their political decisions were viewed as gender transgressions by the state, the public, and even the burgeoning women's movement, which considered violence as patriarchal and unfeminist. Death in the Shape of a Young Girl questions this separation of political violence from feminist politics and offers a new understanding of left-wing female terrorists' actions as feminist practices that challenged existing gender ideologies. Patricia Melzer draws on archival sources, unpublished letters, and interviews with former activists to paint a fresh and interdisciplinary picture of West Germany's most notorious political group, from feminist responses to sexist media coverage of female terrorists to the gendered nature of their infamous hunger strikes while in prison. Placing the controversial actions of the Red Army Faction into the context of feminist politics, Death in the Shape of a Young Girl offers an innovative and engaging cultural history that foregrounds how gender shapes our perception of women's political choices and of any kind of political violence"--Publisher's description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Rote Armee Fraktion -- History SUBJECT Rote Armee Fraktion fast Rote-Armee-Fraktion gnd Subject Women terrorists -- Germany -- History -- 20th century Women revolutionaries -- Germany -- History -- 20th century Women political activists -- Germany -- History -- 20th century Political violence -- Germany -- History -- 20th century Sex role -- Political aspects -- Germany -- History -- 20th century Feminism -- Political aspects -- Germany -- History -- 20th century BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Infrastructure. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- General. Feminism -- Political aspects Politics and government Political violence Sex role -- Political aspects Social conditions Women political activists Women revolutionaries Women terrorists Terrorismus Frau Politik Gewalt Politiska förhållanden. Könsroller -- politiska aspekter. Politiskt våld -- genusaspekter. Kvinnliga revolutionärer. Kvinnliga terrorister. SUBJECT Germany -- Politics and government -- 1945-1990. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh91001651 Germany -- Social conditions -- 20th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh90000541 Subject Germany Genre/Form History History. Form Electronic book ISBN 9781479820221 1479820229 9781479807604 1479807605

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