The left-wing armed struggle in Italy from a critical-historical perspective: the case of study of Prima Linea

This article intends to cast new light on the history of the Italian left-wing armed struggle using the research perspectives offered by Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS). The object of the analysis is Prima Linea (Front Line, PL), which in less than 5 years (1976–1981) became the second most important left-wing clandestine organisation of the Italian 1970s. On the one hand, the historical development of the organisation is divided into two distinct phases. On the other hand, three dimensions of the armed activity of PL will be considered, namely, its ideological approaches, its organisational repertoires and the choice of the targets, in order to investigate the origins, meanings and outcomes of certain framing processes related to the concept of political violence. Taking into consideration direct sources of the organisation and the debates within the social movements, this contribution contextualises these conceptualisation processes of political violence by relating them to the surrounding social context and focusing on the role played both by the structural dynamics from above, and by the theories and practices developed within the revolutionary Left. The aim is to de-exceptionalise and historicise the left-wing armed struggle in Italy and to propose a critical explanation of such phenomenon.