Political violence : Switzerland, a special case ?

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_8E92BF553DF8
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
Political violence : Switzerland, a special case ?
Journal
Terrorism and Political Violence
Author(s)
Villiger C.
ISSN
1556-1836
Publication state
Published
Issued date
11/2013
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
25
Number
5
Pages
672-687
Language
english
Abstract
When we speak of political violence during the second half of the twentieth century in Western Europe, we tend to think of events that took place in Germany, involving the Red Army Faction, and in Italy, with the Red Brigades. Such political violence does not apply in the case of Switzerland, which is perceived as a haven of peace, security, democracy, and economic affluence. However, cursory analysis of the contemporary press undermines this stereotypical vision: indeed, between 1968 and 1995 there were a number of violent acts of protest. Switzerland may not have experienced the phenomenon of organized armed struggle in the same way as Germany and Italy-in fact, the intensity of the violence was far from being the same-but political acts against the government did occur, acts involving either damage to property or, more rarely, injury to people. A rough typology identifies three different political tendencies: separatists and anti-separatists pertaining to Canton Jura, the far-Left, and the far-Right. The aim of this article is to pinpoint and analyze the different features of the violent repertoire that unfolded in Switzerland between 1968 and 1995.
Keywords
political violence-social movements- Switzerland
Create date
19/05/2014 14:35
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:52
Usage data