Social Movements in the Era of Large Social Transformation : Peasant Movements in 19^<th> -century Japan

本课题的目的是系统考察19世纪日本农民起义的主导理论，并通过对农民起义的考察，探索社会大变革时期民众运动的机制。从国家和地区两个层面收集了纵向和横截面数据，然后利用统计技术进行了系统的分析。主要研究结果如下：1、阶级冲突理论，这一迄今占主导地位的解释模式，并不适用于19世纪的日本农民起义。目前对社会运动最流行的解释之一的政治机会结构理论也不能很好地适用于所研究的现象2、19世纪日本的农民骚乱以及社会大变革时期的一般社会运动，可以通过所谓的“结构系统方法”来更好地理解，这种方法强调特定历史背景下国家与集体运动参与者之间的结构性关系及其意识形态特征。3、大规模社会变革时期的社会运动总体上似乎是试图维护现有的传统权利，而不是建立新的权利。从这个意义上讲，它们是“回顾”的，而不是“进步的”。还应该强调的是，上述发现是对收集的数据进行系统考察的结果，因此可以说是概括性的陈述。这是本研究的优点，是以往对日本农民起义的研究无法证明的。另外，收集和建立19世纪日本农民起义的纵向和横断面数据也很重要，这将有助于我们对这一课题进行进一步的研究。

The purposes of this project are to examine systematically the dominant theories of peasant uprisings in 19^<th>-century Japan, and, through this examination, to explore the mechanisms of popular movements in the period of large-scale social change. The longitudinal and cross-section data were collected both at the national and regional levels, and then analyzed systematically using statistical techniques. Major findings are :1, Class conflict theory, the hitherto dominant interpretive scheme, does not apply well to the 19^<th>-century peasant uprisings in Japan. Nor does political opportunity structure theory, currently among the most popular interpretations of social movements, apply well to the phenomenon under study.2, Peasant unrest in 19^<th>-century Japan, and social movements in times of large social change in general, could be better understood by using what might be termed "structural-system approach, " which emphasizes the structural relationship between the state and the collective movement actors in specific historical settings and their ideological characters.3, Social movements in the periods of large-scale social change in general appear to be the ones that try to preserve the existing traditional rights rather than establishing new rights. In this sense, they are "retrospective, "not"progressive.It Should also be emphasized that the above findings are the results of systematic examination of the collected data and thus can be stated as generalized statements. This is the merit of the present study which previous studies on Japanese peasant uprisings have not been able to demonstrate. Also important is the collection and establishment of longitudinal and cross-sectional data regarding 19^<th>-century peasant uprisings in Japan, which will aid us in proceeding further research on this subject.