How Political Violence and Radicalism End: An Empirical Study ‘Triangulating' Different Sources, Methods and Actors

Many scholars stress the cyclical nature of political violence and terrorist movements, however, scarce attention has been paid so far, within academia and outside, to the ways in which such groups or individuals come to an end or move away from violence. This paper analyses the conditions under which violent terrorist groups fall into decline. This is done through a systematic comparison of different paths of disengagement and exit from political violence that have concerned different types of (a) Left-wing (b) Nationalist-Separatist, (c) Religious-Fundamentalist and (d) Right -wing terrorist groups in two European democracies (Italy and Spain) in the last 40 years (1970-2010). Referring to social movement studies and political violence literature, and adopting a ‘multilevel framework’ to the study of disengagement, this paper discusses the possible paths for leaving violent organisations, specifically interrelating micro-meso-macro factors for explanation, and exploring how the complex interactions between the social, political, and cultural environment, combined with the internal dynamics of the groups and individual psycology, affect the exiting from terrorism. We will combine a ‘large N’ quantitative study with a ‘small N’ comparative case study of different types of disengaged groups, and several qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques (compilation and analysis of a selective database of underground organisations and the surrounding political opportunity structure, interview data and government documents and documents from organisations). Focusing on different country contexts and different kinds of movements, the goal is to find similarities and differences in the mechanisms of the end of political violence.