Jacco Pekelder, born in Gasselternijveen, the Netherlands, in 1967. Ph.D. from Utrecht University. Assistant Professor of Modern History at Utrecht University.
Fellow (1 September 2010 – 30 June 2011)
“UMFELD”: THE RECEPTION OF TERRORISM AND COUNTER-TERRORISM BY THE RADICAL LEFT IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, 1968-1998
During my stay at NIAS I worked on a monograph concerning the confrontation between the Red Army Faction (or: Baader Meinhof Group) and the West German state in the 1970s (and beyond) and the reactions this provoked from among the RAF’s constituency, the wider milieu of left-wing radicals in Germany (die Linke). It was great fun writing this at the Institute, because it offered so many opportunities to test ideas with other Fellows. Next to that, I participated in the theme group “Terrorists on Trial: The Courtroom as a Stage in the Struggle for Publicity, Public Support and Legitimacy”. Together with co-fellow Klaus Weinhauer I wrote a chapter about the trial against the RAF leadership at Stuttgart-Stammheim (1975-77) which will appear in the theme groups’ edited volume. Finally, I formulated two research proposals, together with different NIAS Fellows, one about terrorist constituencies and the other about German foreign policy culture.