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

352 Pages·2015·3.87 MB·English

by  Melzer

DEATH IN THE SHAPE OF A YOUNG GIRL
GENDER AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE SERIES
General Editor: Laura Sjoberg
Muscular Nationalism: Gender, War, and Empire in
India and Ireland, 1914–2004
Sikata Banerjee
Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone: Sex, Security, and
Post-Conflict Development
Megan H. MacKenzie
Death in the Shape of a Young Girl: Women’s Political
Violence in the Red Army Faction
Patricia Melzer
PATRICIA MELZER
DEATH IN
THE SHAPE OF
A YOUNG GIRL
Women’s Political Violence in the Red Army Faction
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2015 by New York University
All rights reserved
Book designed and typeset by Charles B. Hames
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
ISBN: 978-1-4798-6407-2
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Library of Congress.
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Also available as an ebook
For Karl, with love
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: “An Excess of Women’s Emancipation”:
Gender, Political Violence, and Feminist Politics 1
1 The Other Half of the Sky: Revolutionary Violence,
the RAF, and the Autonomous Women’s Movement 35
2 “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”: The “Betrayal”
of Motherhood among the Women of the RAF and
Movement 2nd June 73
3 “Terrorist Girls” and “Wild Furies”: Feminist Responses
to Media Representations of Women Terrorists during
the “German Autumn” of 1977 109
4 The Gendered Politics of Starving: (State) Power and
the Body as Locus of Political Subjectivities in the
RAF Hunger Strikes 153
5 “We Women Are the Better Half of Humanity Anyway”:
Revolutionary Politics, Feminism, and Memory in the
Writings of Female Terrorists 195
Conclusion: “Can Political Violence Be Feminist?” 231
Notes 245
References 311
Index 329
About the Author 339
vii
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Acknowledgments
This book has been close to ten years in the making and as with all aca-
demic projects, could not have been completed without the support of
various groups of people. I want to thank my family for supporting me
through the process, including housing and feeding me during extended
stays at the archives, beginning with my parents, Annemie and Klaus-
Jürgen Melzer, who unfailingly have been there for me, all my life. I also
want to thank my oldest sister, Kathrin, whose input into parts of this
book has been invaluable. I cannot imagine myself having done this
work without the encouragement of her and my two sisters Nanette and
Temesgen and my sisters-in-spirit, Marina Walter and Natali Schirm.
A special thank you to Michelle Matisons, whose friendship has been
central in making me begin this journey; her radical dedication to social
justice and creative thinking continues to be influential on my work.
Thanks to research grants from the College of Liberal Arts at Tem-
ple as well as a summer research grant and a sabbatical research year
from Temple University, I was able to visit archives in Germany and
the Netherlands and travel to conferences. My mentors and friends at
Temple have been my intellectual and emotional “backbone” during
this project. I enjoyed Kristi Brian’s friendship and grounding presence
in times of transition; since her move, they are sorely missed. Rickie
Sanders has been a good mentor and friend for the past ten years. Beth
Bailey’s smart advice and consistent support of my endeavors are much
appreciated. James Salazar has been a wonderful friend with a bagful of
tricks who greatly facilitated the publication of the book. Laura Levitt
has been unfailing with her backing of me and of my work, and I am
grateful for her extending her support and friendship to my family. I
greatly enjoyed smart conversations with Margaux Cowden about femi-
nist theories of violence and appreciated her thoughtful input into my
writing. I also want to thank my department chair, Louis Mangione,
whose advice and support in the past two years have been central to the
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