Combining the tools of political, social, cultural, and
intellectual history, Consumption and Violence: Radical Protest in
Cold-War West Germany explores strategies of legitimization
developed by advocates of militant resistance to certain
manifestations of consumer capitalism. The book contributes to a
more sober evaluation of West German protest movements, not just
terrorism, as it refrains from emotional and moral judgments, but
takes the protesters' approaches seriously, which, regarding
consumer society, had a rational core. Political violence is not
presented as the result of individual shortcomings, but emerges in
relation to major societal changes, i.e., the unprecedented growth
of consumption. This new perspective sheds important light on
violence and radical protest in post-war Germany, as previous books
have failed to examine to what extent these forms of resistance
should be regarded as reactions to changing regimes of provision.
Continuing the recently growing interest in the interdependence of
countercultures and consumer society, the focus on violence gives
the argument a unique twist, making the book thought-provoking and
engaging.