How a dehumanising form of language can impact outgroups' decision to engage in violence: an analysis of the Italian far left

Grillo, Giulia (2025) How a dehumanising form of language can impact outgroups' decision to engage in violence: an analysis of the Italian far left. Partecipazione e Conflitto, 18 (3). 748 - 764. ISSN 1972-7623

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Abstract

Despite considerable scholarship investigating engagement in violence, literature has overlooked how daily interpersonal relations and the use of a moralistic form of language impact individuals’ decision to engage in violence. Presenting my research findings, this paper intends to bridge this gap by examining personal stories of a group of Italian former far-left militants, operating during the ‘Years of Lead’. It employs narrative analysis, using Rosenberg’s and Gilligan’s perspectives on violent behaviour as theoretical lens. This paper identifies a three-step process, resulting from human cognition and partly implemented through a moralistic form of communication: firstly, employing Manichaean worldviews to make sense of society: secondly, the progressive dehumanisation of those falling into the negative side of these worldviews – outgroups; finally, outgroups’ choice of engaging in violence. This paper finds that by promoting outgroups’ dehumanisation, a form of language based on moralistic divisions significantly contributes to shaping outgroups’ decision to engage in violence.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 - University of Salento, SIBA: http://siba-ese.unisalento.it
Divisions:	LSE IDEAS
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology D History General and Old World > DG Italy
Date Deposited:	21 Nov 2025 08:36
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2025 17:23
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/130273

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