Abstract
In the vast landscape of political violence, its organized component is of high significance. “Waves” of terrorism are “composed of organizations” (Rapoport 2004, p. 48) and they decline when organizations are no longer successful (Rapoport 2022). Terrorist organizations rely on structure for security, target selection, and effectiveness (Kilberg 2012). They need an ideological belief system, conviction, as well as material resources to exercise influence and perform operations (Hausken 2019). Despite the complex and important role that organizations play on politically violent groups’ behaviors, exploring their structure and operational rules before their end entails challenges, linked to their clandestine nature, as reliable information remains difficult to collect (Bosi and Malthaner 2015). Drawing evidence from the Political Violence in Greece (PVGR) dataset (Rori et al. 2022a, b), enriched with data of a longer period of time and supplementary analytical categories, this chapter focuses on far left organized violence, shedding light on the physiognomy of organizations of the so-called second generation that emerged after the arrest of the two most notorious terrorist organizations—Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N) and Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA)—in 2002 up to 2019. It explores their resources, targets, means of attack, and narrative, thus providing preliminary elements for a typology informed by more fine-grained categories, covering the vast majority of the internal supply-side factors.
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Notes
- 1.
According to Xenakis (2012, p. 446), however, this might be a constructed diversity and the new organizations were “fronts” of older groups “seeking to cultivate the impression of a far more populous and diverse violent landscape”.
- 2.
For the PVGR data collection method, coding scheme and limitations, see the appendix of Rori, Georgiadou, Roumanias (2022a and b).
- 3.
Violent attacks reported in the media and/or unofficial information regarding organizations which haven’t, nonetheless, claimed responsibility are not included in the organized attacks examined in this chapter. Therefore high-scale violence possibly directed against human targets might be underestimated, in the sense that episodes for which there is yet no claim or attribution of responsibility were not considered.
- 4.
In total we found 89 organizations acting from 2003 to 2019 carrying out violent attacks of all levels. For the purposes of this study, we focus on the 74 which perpetrated attacks corresponding to the 3rd level of escalation.
- 5.
We do not recognize a cyclic pattern of violent incidents. According to our data, there is a “wave” of far left violence recorded around the peak of 2009 (Xenakis 2012, p. 438); since 2011, however, far left violence is spreading throughout the period under study, without a wave-like pattern of distribution.
- 6.
SPF appears for the first time in January 2008, almost a year earlier than the December riots, but its action is proliferating after them.
- 7.
SPF – an organization of high operational capacity – is said to have been equipped with guns from Albanian gangs, whereas its members have used networks of criminals to plan a collective escape from prison. Members of SPF were also involved in robberies. Likewise, the bank robber, kidnapper and jail-breaker Vasilis Palaiocostas, has cooperated both with the anarchist Polykarpos Georgiadis for the kidnapping of a businessman in 2008, with members of OLA and the mastermind of EA Nikos Maziotis, whereas his fingerprint was recognized on a letter bomb sent in 2010 targeting the erstwhile Minister for Citizens Protection, finally killing his aide. Interestingly, although Palaiokostas undertook clandestine and violent action well before his political radicalization, his close contact with far left violent prisoners created admiration (Kalyvas 2022, p. 53), decisive for him to offer support and cooperation. What is more, some of OLA’s members seem to have previously develop synergies with criminals in a series of bank robberies. Recent evidence on the nexus between political and penal criminals was found in the bank transfers of the leader of an Albanian gang based in the university campus in Athens towards the extremist who sent a letter bomb against the former Prime Minister Lukas Papademos.
- 8.
For instance, https://epanastaticosagonas.wordpress.com.
- 9.
- 10.
For example: https://kraygesapotakelia.espivblogs.net/.
- 11.
Texts written by SPF cadres have been hosted on The Anarchist Library, available at https://theanarchistlibrary.org/special/index.
Abbreviations
- 17N:
-
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη)
- AS:
-
Deviant Behaviors for the Diffusion of Revolutionary Terrorism (Αποκλίνουσες Συμπεριφορές για τη Διάδοση του Επαναστατικού Τερορισμού)
- EA:
-
Revolutionary Struggle (Επαναστατικός Αγώνας)
- EED:
-
Armed Revolutionary Action (Ένοπλη Επαναστατική Δράση)
- ELA:
-
Revolutionary Popular Struggle (Επαναστατικός Λαϊκός Αγώνας)
- K12F:
-
Movement of 12 February (Κίνημα 12 Φλεβάρη)
- KP:
-
Circles of Delinquents (Κύκλοι Παραβατικών)
- LED:
-
Popular Revolutionary Action (Λαϊκή Επαναστατική Δράση)
- LT:
-
Popular Will (Λαϊκή Θέληση)
- MA:
-
Zero Tolerance (Μηδενική Ανοχή)
- OLA:
-
Group of Popular Fighters (Ομάδα Λαϊκών Αγωνιστών)
- PAD:
-
Cell of Guerrilla Action (Πηρήνας Αντάρτικης Δράσης)
- PTA:
-
Class Solidarity Initiative (Πρωτοβουλία Ταξικής Αλληλεγγύης)
- SE:
-
Sect of Revolutionaries (Σέχτα Επαναστατών)
- SPF:
-
Conspiracy of Cells of Fire (Συνωμοσία Πυρήνων της Φωτιάς)
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Rori, L., Georgiadou, V. (2023). Far Left Organized Violence in Greece: The Second Generation. In: Zúquete, J.P. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Left-Wing Extremism, Volume 1. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30897-0_13
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