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 particularly characterised 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 sufficient to claim primag 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.