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Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, Unit Catalogue 2011/12


PL30671: Italian national option IT11: Political terrorism and its legacy in Italy

Click here for further information Credits: 6
Click here for further information Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Click here for further information Period: Semester 2
Click here for further information Assessment: CW 33%, EX 67%
Click here for further information Supplementary Assessment: Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Click here for further information Requisites:
Click here for further information Description: Aims:
To explain Italy's political terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s, with particular reference to the extreme Right, and to understand why terrorism remains a highly divisive and contentious political issue despite the collapse of the 'First Republic'.

Learning Outcomes:
Students who complete the unit will be able to:
* locate Italy's political terrorism in the context of the Cold War and Italy's political and ideological sub-cultures;
* identify and evaluate a range of interpretations of this terrorism;
* assess why successive trials have largely failed to secure justice;
* demonstrate an understanding of the significance of terrorism as a continuing political issue.

Skills:
Skills in critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument, teamwork and the planning/conduct/reporting of non-quantitative research are developed and assessed in this unit.

Content:
The unit is divided in two parts. Part I deals with the events and interpretations of Italian political terrorism of the far right and far left. Part II deals with judicial trials, the legacy of terrorism and the persisting political divisions around this controversial chapter of Italian recent history.
Part I. Definitions of political terrorism. The profile, nature, methods and aims of extreme-right and extreme-left terrorism in the Italian First Republic. Institutionalised or state-sponsored terrorism: the role of secret networks of power and official political institutions. The so-called Strategy of Tension. Scholarly, journalistic and political reconstructions and interpretations.
Part II. Success and failure of judicial investigations and trials. Systematic cases of obstruction of justice. Recent findings and revelations. The work of the Parliamentary Commission on the Failed Identification of the Authors of Terrorist Massacres. The ideological struggle over historical memory and the 'truth' about the past. The (im)possibility of reconciliation. Can the transition to a fully democratic regime be successful wirthout truth-telling?
Click here for further informationProgramme availability:

PL30671 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
  • UHPL-AYB16 : BA (hons) Italian (ab initio) and Politics (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB14 : BA (hons) Italian and Politics (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB08 : BA (hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (French and ab initio Italian) (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB04 : BA (hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (French and Italian) (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB06 : BA (hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and ab initio Italian) (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB02 : BA (hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and Italian) (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB20 : BA (hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (Spanish and ab initio Italian) (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
  • UHPL-AYB19 : BA (hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (Spanish and Italian) (Full-time with Year Abroad) - Year 4
NB. Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.