The Continuity of Violence in the Stages of the Shi-Shi Movement of Nineteenth-Century Japan

Abstract

Some scholars place violence as prominent in an early stage of a social movement, whereas others argue that violence is characteristic of a later stage. This paper addresses the question of whether there is a specific movement stage that is particular characterized by violence through an analysis of the shi-shi movement (1858-1864). The shi-shi movement helped create the revolutionary situation which culminated in Japan's Meiji Restoration (1868). Violence was prominent and consequential in the shi-shi movement and was found throughout the career of the movement. This study of a single case is by no means suffcient to claim primary over existing models of the place of violence in social movements. The shi-shi movement, however, significantly varies from theoretical models that link violent actions to a specific movement stage.