Genesis of Clandestine Violence – How and Why Contemporary Terrorist Structures Emerge

Applying classical scholarship on the emergence of left-wing terrorism in the 70s to contemporary forms of political violence in Germany, and the particular aspects of the emergence of clandestine cells, several puzzles become apparent: a lack of left-wing terrorism in spite of recurring escalation of violence between left-wing militants and the state; jihadi and right-wing terrorism on the background of a lack of increasing repression by the state; emergence of jihadi homegrown terrorism in the absence of a broader homegrown jihadi protest movement. This paper aims to tackle these issues through an in-depth analysis of three representative cases in Germany. As a second objective, the paper will offer some considerations relating to the concept of “terrorism”, arguing that there is a need for more conceptual differentiation regarding different forms of clandestine violence in order to capture contemporary right-wing, left-wing and jihadi violence.