Escape to the front: the strange radicalisation of the West German student movement

Abstract

This article explores the reasons for the rapid radicalization of the West German student movement of the 1960s. Instead of referring to established theories on the radicalization of social movements, it focuses on the implications of the activists’ specific notion of "movement". It is argued that the pressure on the movement's protagonists to permanently unite theory and practice led to a tension that could only be maintained by a permanent orientation towards the next step. Keeping the “movement” in motion thus exerted a propulsive radicalizing pressure that was not directed toward a specific goal, but toward continuing to "keep going." "Movement" may thus be seen as the unifying element of theory, practice, organization, and habitus of the movement. From this perspective, it is also argued, the sudden transformation of the disintegrating movement into terrorist groups or ultra-authoritarian small parties becomes more understandable.