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The Reparations Program in Brazil

Ignacio Cano and Patrícia Salvão Ferreira

in The Handbook of Reparations

This paper evaluates the federal reparations program for fatal victims of political violence in Brazil. The Brazilian reparations program was born of an amnesty movement for political prisoners, ... More

This paper evaluates the federal reparations program for fatal victims of political violence in Brazil. The Brazilian reparations program was born of an amnesty movement for political prisoners, followed by the discovery of mass graves exposing atrocities of the State. In response to pressure from civil society groups and the media, President Cardoso signed the 1995 Law of Victims of Political Assassination and Disappearance. The paper explores the limitations of the law, its exclusion of many victims of political violence, and the charge that the law transferred the burden of proof to victims’ families. It examines the Commission’s structure and operation, as well as the voting patterns of its members. It provides data concerning the cost of the entire reparations process, and sheds light on the surprising truth-telling function the Commission acquired in a country in which official truth-telling about the years of the dictatorship has yet to take place.Less

Politics and Terror

Gholam R. Afkhami

in The Life and Times of the Shah

The attempted “revolutionary execution” of Prime Minister Ala was one in a series of assassinations and assassination attempts by the Fadaiyan dating from its inception in the early 1940s. Though ... More

The attempted “revolutionary execution” of Prime Minister Ala was one in a series of assassinations and assassination attempts by the Fadaiyan dating from its inception in the early 1940s. Though intellectually limited, the Fadaiyan preached in the burlesque the seemingly more sophisticated discourse of the learned ulama on apostasy, the corrupting of the earth, the war against God and Islam, and the reasons that killing might be justified. Indeed, most Fadaiyan insisted on obtaining a religious fatwa from an established Mujtahid before they set out on an assassination. They were the first in Iran after World War II to advocate and to strive to establish an Islamic government and the first to employ assassination as politics by other means. In the 1960s, the Fadaiyan murdered another prime minister and attempted to assassinate the shah, this time in association with movements devoted to Khomeini.Less

Terrorists Or Giustizieri?

Nunzio Pernicone and Fraser M. Ottanelli

in Assassins against the Old Order: Italian Anarchist Violence in Fin de Siècle Europe

The conclusions discusses how political assassinations committed by Italian anarchists were not the product of conspiracies carried out by criminals and madmen. Rather they were the consequence of ... More

The conclusions discusses how political assassinations committed by Italian anarchists were not the product of conspiracies carried out by criminals and madmen. Rather they were the consequence of Italy’s grinding poverty and authoritarian methods of dealing with popular unrest and dissent, of the economic and political pressures that fostered mass migration, and finally, of the cosmopolitan nature of Italian anarchism. All six of the attentatori discussed in this book did not engage in acts of terrorism against faceless victims but instead struck out against those monarchs and chiefs of state deemed responsible, directly or indirectly, for crimes perpetrated against themselves, the people, or the anarchist movement.Less

Oliver Stone and the Decade of Trauma

Trevor B. McCrisken and Andrew Pepper

in American History and Contemporary Hollywood Film

More than any other American film director in recent years, Oliver Stone has looked to American history for his inspiration and subject matter. With his trilogy of Vietnam War films (Platoon, Born on ... More

More than any other American film director in recent years, Oliver Stone has looked to American history for his inspiration and subject matter. With his trilogy of Vietnam War films (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth) and his two political dramas (JFK and Nixon), Stone has produced a body of work that reconfigures the history of what might be called the traumatic decade from the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 to the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. The events of this decade — multiple political assassinations; widespread civil upheaval and unrest; an increasingly bloody and unpopular foreign war that ended in the defeat of American objectives; and the revelations of corruption and abuse of power at the highest levels — shook the very fabric of American society and threatened to finally destroy the belief in American exceptionalism. As a scriptwriter and director, Stone is not afraid to focus the audience's gaze upon the darker, questionable aspects of the United States' recent political and social past.Less

The Politics of Murder

Matthew G. Schoenbachler

in Murder and Madness: The Myth of the Kentucky Tragedy

The news of the murder of Solomon Sharp spread quickly in the early morning hours of November 7, 1824, causing a sensation “deep beyond description”, a gloom among the townspeople “of the deepest ... More

The news of the murder of Solomon Sharp spread quickly in the early morning hours of November 7, 1824, causing a sensation “deep beyond description”, a gloom among the townspeople “of the deepest cast”. The first to suspect the young man was Joel Scott, even before he was aware of Jereboam Beauchamp's connection to Anna Cooke. Well before Beauchamp was brought back to town, the murder of Sharp was becoming politicized. Whether or not Beauchamp's murder of Sharp had political causes, it certainly had political consequences and in fact became, as one nineteenth-century biographer asserted, “not merely ... a private but ... a public calamity”. The partisan implications of Sharp's death only fueled the speculations that the murder was in fact a political assassination. Investigating the possibility of a conspiracy, the grand jury concluded that there was no evidence that Beauchamp had had an accomplice.Less

Bombings, Insurrections, and Cosmopolitanism: Paolo Lega and Sante Caserio

Nunzio Pernicone and Fraser M. Ottanelli

in Assassins against the Old Order: Italian Anarchist Violence in Fin de Siècle Europe

Bombings are traditionally associated with anarchism. Through a brief comparative survey, Chapter 3 explains that while this was a lethal weapon of struggle used by anarchists in Spain and France, ... More

Bombings are traditionally associated with anarchism. Through a brief comparative survey, Chapter 3 explains that while this was a lethal weapon of struggle used by anarchists in Spain and France, the same was not the case for the bombings perpetrated by their Italian comrades. Spanish and French anarchists bombed activities and locations that attracted large numbers of people, especially members of the bourgeoisie. In contrast, instead of an abstract class enemy, Italian anarchists (in whatever country they struck) bombed buildings or targeted specific personalities along with tangible symbols of state power and repressive policies. The determination to strike those held responsible for repressive policies led to two attentats: Paolo Lega’s attempt on Prime Minister Francesco Crispi’s life followed by Sante Caserio’s assassination of the president of France, Marie Francois Sadi Carnot.Less

Introduction

Nunzio Pernicone and Fraser M. Ottanelli

in Assassins against the Old Order: Italian Anarchist Violence in Fin de Siècle Europe

Customarily both in Europe and the United States, government officials, the press and historians have described late 19th century anarchists as murderous, bloody thirsty, irrational and wretched ... More

Customarily both in Europe and the United States, government officials, the press and historians have described late 19th century anarchists as murderous, bloody thirsty, irrational and wretched individuals The introduction details how the book will show that “propaganda of the deed,” as conceived and carried out by Italian anarchists, was the product of the revolutionary tradition of the Risorgimento; the influence of Russian anarchist revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin; the role of government repression in Italy, France and Spain; along with the experiences of Italian migrant laborers at home and abroad. Finally, the introduction described how the book will also provide biographical portraits and analysis of the major Italian perpetrators of political assassinations in fin-de-siècle Italy, France, and Spain.Less

What Is Not Terrorism

Anthony Richards

in Conceptualizing Terrorism

This chapter considers deductively what can be excluded from the author’s understanding as to what constitutes terrorism. Most importantly, acts of violence that primarily intend to secure physical ... More

This chapter considers deductively what can be excluded from the author’s understanding as to what constitutes terrorism. Most importantly, acts of violence that primarily intend to secure physical or tangible gain over and above psychological impact (which may be unintended or incidental) cannot be called acts of terrorism. Thus, for conceptual clarity, one should not, for example, assume that every act that Al Qaeda carries out is an act of terrorism if it does not satisfy the definitional criteria that one has established. The chapter goes on to consider terrorism as a form of psychological warfare, before drawing a distinction between terrorism and other phenomena, such as ‘political assassination’ and ‘cyberterrorism’. It concludes with a discussion on a formidable empirical problem in relation to the way the author (and many others) have conceptualized terrorism: how does one prove what the intent or purpose is behind an act of violence?Less

Anticommunists and Death Narratives

John P. Enyeart

in Death to Fascism: Louis Adamic's Fight for Democracy

Chapter 5 focuses on how anticommunists used Adamic’s death, which the coroner ruled a suicide, to claim that Stalin murdered him. Anticommunists collectively constructed a version of his life ... More

Chapter 5 focuses on how anticommunists used Adamic’s death, which the coroner ruled a suicide, to claim that Stalin murdered him. Anticommunists collectively constructed a version of his life intended to mute his antifascism and his criticisms of them, including his criticism that they embraced the fascist ethos. Anticommunists feared that Adamic’s repeated opposition to the communists could result in the public listening to his calls for a foreign policy that rejected colonialism and promoted peace. They smeared him before congressional committees and in the press. Some South Slavs helped advance the “Adamic as communist” narrative as a means of repenting their radical pasts. The chapter explores who else might have killed Adamic.Less

The Life and Times

Andrew E. Stoner

in The Journalist of Castro Street: The Life of Randy Shilts

Shilts struggles to overcome obstacles from being an openly gay reporter as his job at KQED officially comes to an end. Jobless again with no prospects in view, Shilts falls into a hole of drinking ... More

Shilts struggles to overcome obstacles from being an openly gay reporter as his job at KQED officially comes to an end. Jobless again with no prospects in view, Shilts falls into a hole of drinking and marijuana use. Going back to freelance writing jobs to survive, Shilts’s coverage of the assassination of Milk and Moscone draws the attention of New York City editors who ask him to write up a proposal for a biography of Milk. Shilts undertakes well-researched and positively reviewed book on Milk’s life. Shilts’s work on the Milk bio also takes in important aspects of the growing gay community in San Francisco. Shilts embraces a “new journalism” writing style he admires from novelist James Michener.Less

Conclusion: Constitutionalism and Nonviolence

Chibli Mallat

in Philosophy of Nonviolence: Revolution, Constitutionalism, and Justice beyond the Middle East

This chapter concludes Part II by suggesting that although the constitutional moment proceeds irrespective of whether the revolution was nonviolent or not, nonviolence makes the passage to a working ... More

This chapter concludes Part II by suggesting that although the constitutional moment proceeds irrespective of whether the revolution was nonviolent or not, nonviolence makes the passage to a working constitution naturally easier, for instance in the large mobilization in the wake of political assassinations in Tunisia after the revolution. It also concludes that the battle for the constitution continues along a fault line determined by nonviolence: how not to reproduce dictatorship under any guise, religious, military, or corporatist. This battle requires a world vision of the philosophy of nonviolence being applicable not just during the revolutionary moment, but during the constitution-making and justice moments as well.Less

Autochthony in Europe: The Dutch Turn

in The Perils of Belonging: Autochthony, Citizenship, and Exclusion in Africa and Europe

This chapter describes autochthony movements in Europe, where the language of belonging and autochthony spread especially in relation to popular concerns about immigrant labor. It concentrates on the ... More

This chapter describes autochthony movements in Europe, where the language of belonging and autochthony spread especially in relation to popular concerns about immigrant labor. It concentrates on the Netherlands and what appeared to be an abrupt switch in this country after 2000—marked by two shocking political assassinations—from a multiculturalist approach to a forceful policy of cultural integration. These include the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn, and the even bloodier murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Fortuyn's impact in politics may have caused a landslide. The notion of allochtonen appeared to be a neutral term that could cover all the various groups of immigrants. Culture and history became central themes in Paul Scheffer's articles and in the Dutch debate on integration in general. Culture is a useful notion in debates on how to live with immigration only if it includes difference rather than excluding it.Less