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"Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists" Reevaluates Modern Japanese Democracy
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 10, 2009 -- "Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists: The Violent Politics of Modern Japan, 1860-1960," written by Eiko Maruko Siniawer of Williams College, was recently published by Cornell University Press.
In her book, Siniawer examines "how a culture of political violence and a democracy could operate at one and the same time." She argues that physical violence became a constant, though changing presence in Japanese politics starting in the middle of the Meiji era. "Democratic politics attracted the very kind of violence that was often undemocratic in its consequences," she writes.
With a focus on "the functions and influences of violence in politics," Siniawer traces the role of "violence specialists" in Japan's socio-political history. These non-state actors wielded physical force vocationally and politically. They ranged from the "bakuto" reformers of the Meiji Restoration, to the "soshi" activists who blended politics with ruffianism beginning in the 1880s, to "yakuza" mafiosi bosses elected to the Diet in the early decades of the 20th century.
"Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists" paints a picture of violence specialists who were driven by a combination of factors rather than an inherent violent impetus. "In practice," Siniawer asserts, "their political violence was inextricably bound up with the most modern of impulses - the construction of a modern nation-state, parliamentary and constitutional democracy, nationalism, imperialism, and fascism."
Widespread denunciation of political violence followed in the aftermath of World War II. But this second shift did not eradicate "yakuza" presence in politics. They changed their focus from violence to money, which could be as corrupt and pernicious as physical force.
Siniawer's work addresses a lack of post-war scholarship on coercive physical force in Japan as a phenomenon in itself rather than a by-product of other political currents.
This book also incorporates a comparative analysis, placing violence in Japan alongside organized crime in Russia and Italy, as well as ruffianism in the United States and Great Britain, two iconic democracies that have struggled with political violence.
Siniawer posits that every democratic nation has a latent capacity for violence, which may, given certain combinations of circumstances, manifest as it did in modern Japan.
"Eiko Maruko Siniawer advances the provocative thesis that the embrace of democracy does not displace violence from politics but merely transforms it," wrote Michael A. Reynolds of Princeton University. "This is a book that deserves an audience well beyond Japanese history."
Siniawer is assistant professor of history at Williams College and specializes in the history of modern Japan. She has written for "Modern Asian Studies," the "Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World," and "Organized Crime and the Challenge to Democracy." She was a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies in 2006-07, and continues to serve as an associate of research there.
She received her B.A. from Williams College in 1997 and her Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 2003.
END
Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
To visit the college on the Internet:www.williams.edu
News: Yue Yi
In her book, Siniawer examines "how a culture of political violence and a democracy could operate at one and the same time." She argues that physical violence became a constant, though changing presence in Japanese politics starting in the middle of the Meiji era. "Democratic politics attracted the very kind of violence that was often undemocratic in its consequences," she writes.
With a focus on "the functions and influences of violence in politics," Siniawer traces the role of "violence specialists" in Japan's socio-political history. These non-state actors wielded physical force vocationally and politically. They ranged from the "bakuto" reformers of the Meiji Restoration, to the "soshi" activists who blended politics with ruffianism beginning in the 1880s, to "yakuza" mafiosi bosses elected to the Diet in the early decades of the 20th century.
"Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists" paints a picture of violence specialists who were driven by a combination of factors rather than an inherent violent impetus. "In practice," Siniawer asserts, "their political violence was inextricably bound up with the most modern of impulses - the construction of a modern nation-state, parliamentary and constitutional democracy, nationalism, imperialism, and fascism."
Widespread denunciation of political violence followed in the aftermath of World War II. But this second shift did not eradicate "yakuza" presence in politics. They changed their focus from violence to money, which could be as corrupt and pernicious as physical force.
Siniawer's work addresses a lack of post-war scholarship on coercive physical force in Japan as a phenomenon in itself rather than a by-product of other political currents.
This book also incorporates a comparative analysis, placing violence in Japan alongside organized crime in Russia and Italy, as well as ruffianism in the United States and Great Britain, two iconic democracies that have struggled with political violence.
Siniawer posits that every democratic nation has a latent capacity for violence, which may, given certain combinations of circumstances, manifest as it did in modern Japan.
"Eiko Maruko Siniawer advances the provocative thesis that the embrace of democracy does not displace violence from politics but merely transforms it," wrote Michael A. Reynolds of Princeton University. "This is a book that deserves an audience well beyond Japanese history."
Siniawer is assistant professor of history at Williams College and specializes in the history of modern Japan. She has written for "Modern Asian Studies," the "Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World," and "Organized Crime and the Challenge to Democracy." She was a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies in 2006-07, and continues to serve as an associate of research there.
She received her B.A. from Williams College in 1997 and her Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 2003.
END
Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
To visit the college on the Internet:www.williams.edu
News: Yue Yi
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