LEADER 04160nam 2200661 a 450 001 9910456581903321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-8014-5436-0 010 $a0-8014-6185-5 024 7 $a10.7591/9780801461859 035 $a(CKB)2550000000036178 035 $a(OCoLC)732957085 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10468001 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000540990 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11348730 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000540990 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10492696 035 $a(PQKB)10249881 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3138122 035 $a(OCoLC)966762410 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse51913 035 $a(DE-B1597)478483 035 $a(OCoLC)979575520 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780801461859 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3138122 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10468001 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL752100 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000036178 100 $a20080529d2008 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aRuffians, yakuza, nationalists$b[electronic resource] $ethe violent politics of modern Japan, 1860-1960 /$fEiko Maruko Siniawer 210 $aIthaca $cCornell University Press$d2008 215 $a1 online resource (284 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a1-336-20814-7 311 $a0-8014-4720-8 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aIntroduction -- Patriots and gamblers: violence and the formation of the Meiji state -- Violent democracy: ruffians and the birth of parliamentary politics -- Institutionalized ruffianism and a culture of political violence -- Fascist violence: ideology and power in prewar Japan -- Democracy reconstructed: violence specialists in the postwar period -- Afterword. 330 $aViolence and democracy may seem fundamentally incompatible, but the two have often been intimately and inextricably linked. In Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists, Eiko Maruko Siniawer argues that violence has been embedded in the practice of modern Japanese politics from the very inception of the country's experiment with democracy.As soon as the parliament opened its doors in 1890, brawls, fistfights, vandalism, threats, and intimidation quickly became a fixture in Japanese politics, from campaigns and elections to legislative debates. Most of this physical force was wielded by what Siniawer calls "violence specialists": ruffians and yakuza. Their systemic and enduring political violence-in the streets, in the halls of parliament, during popular protests, and amid labor strife-ultimately compromised party politics in Japan and contributed to the rise of militarism in the 1930s.For the post-World War II years, Siniawer illustrates how the Japanese developed a preference for money over violence as a political tool of choice. This change in tactics signaled a political shift, but not necessarily an evolution, as corruption and bribery were in some ways more insidious, exclusionary, and undemocratic than violence. Siniawer demonstrates that the practice of politics in Japan has been dangerous, chaotic, and far more violent than previously thought. Additionally, crime has been more political.Throughout the book, Siniawer makes clear that certain yakuza groups were ideological in nature, contrary to the common understanding of organized crime as nonideological. Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists is essential reading for anyone wanting to comprehend the role of violence in the formation of modern nation-states and its place in both democratic and fascist movements. 606 $aPolitical violence$zJapan$xHistory 606 $aDemocracy$zJapan$xHistory 607 $aJapan$xPolitics and government$y1868- 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aPolitical violence$xHistory. 615 0$aDemocracy$xHistory. 676 $a306.20952/09034 700 $aSiniawer$b Eiko Maruko$0791869 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910456581903321 996 $aRuffians, yakuza, nationalists$92476022 997 $aUNINA