George Katsiaficas provides a unique portrayal of direct-action European social movements in Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and Denmark from 1968 to 1996. Paying special attention to the role of autonomous feminist movements, he traces the effect of squatters and feminists on the disarmament movement and on efforts to shut down nuclear power, and also discusses antifascist social movements developed in response to the neo-Nazi upsurge.
In addition to providing a rare depiction of these often overlooked movements, Professor Katsiaficas develops a specific notion of autonomy from the statements and aspirations of these movements. Autonomy is seen as a type of freedom transcending neo-Kantian individualism and postmodern consumerism--as the political form appropriate to contemporary societies. Drawing from the practical actions of social movements, his analysis is extended into a universal standpoint of the species, a perspective he develops by uncovering the partiality of Antonio Negri's workerism, Seyla Benhabib's feminism, and notions of uniqueness of the German nation.
A sequel to Professor Katsiaficas's THE IMAGINATION OF THE NEW LEFT: A GLOBAL ANALYSIS OF 1968 (South End Press, 1986), this book updates and expands his understanding of antisystemic social movements in the advanced capitalist societies.