Tilly Collective Violence

8/8/2019 Tilly Collective Violence

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...........................COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE

IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

Charles TillyUniversity of Michigan

June 1978...........................

CRSO Working Paper 178 Copies available through:Center for Research onSocial OrganizationUniversity of Michigan330 Packard StreetAnn Arbor, Michigan 48109


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COLLECTIVE VIOLENCEI N EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

C h a r l e s T i l l yUniv ers it y of MichiganRevised Vers ion: June 1978

To be publish ed i n a revised ed it io n of Hugh DavisGraham and Ted Robert Curr , ed s . , Violence in Amer ica:I i i s to r i ca l and Com para t ive P e r s pec t ive s ( Beve rly H i l l s :S ag e P i ~ b l i c a t i o n s ; r i g i n a l e d i t i o n p u b l js h e d i n 1 9 6 9by U.S. Government Pr in ti ng Offl ce, Sig net Books andRantnm Books).

A s comcor ting as i t i s f o r civilized p e o p le t o t h i n k o f b a r b a r i a n s a sv io le n t and o f v io lence a s ba r ba r ian . wes te r n c iv l l i z s t i on and va r ious f o rmof co l l ec t iv e v io lence have a lways c lung to each o the r . We do no t need os t i f l e d u n i v e r s a l i n s t i n c t o f a g g r e s s i o n t o a cc o un t f o r t h e b u r s t i n g o u t o fv io len t conCl lc t s in our pa s t , o r in our p r e s en t . Nor need we go to theoppos i t e ex t r em e and s ea r ch f o r p a tho log ica l m oments and s i ck peop le in o r dt o e x p l a i n c o l l e c t i v e s c t s o f p r o t e s t a nd d e s t r u c t i o n . l l i s t o r i c a l l y , collev i o l e n c e h a s f lo we d r e g u l a r l y o u t o f t h e c c n t r a l p o l i t i c a l p r o c e s s e s o f w ecoun t r i e s . P eop le s eek ing to s e i ze , ho ld , o r r ea l ign the l ev e r s o f power hc o n t i n u a l l y e ng ag ed i n c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n c e a s p a r t o f t h e l r s t r u g g l e s . T l ~oppr e ss ed have s t r uck i n th e nam e o f jus t l c e , the privileged in th e name ofo r de r , thos e in be tween in the nam e o f Cea r . Gr ea t s h i f t s I n the a r r angemof power have ordi na r i l y produced -- and have of te n depended on -- exceptiom om ents o f co l l ec t ive v io lence .

Yet t he ba s ic f o r m s o f co l l ec t ive v io lence va r y nccor d ing to who i sinvolved and what i s a t i s s u e . T hey hnve changed p r o f ound ly in wes tc r n couo v e r t h e l a s t f ew c e n t u r i e s , a s t h o s e c o u n t r i e s l ~ a v e u i l t b i g c i t i e s a nd mi n d u s t r i e s . F or t h e s e re a s o n s , t h e c h a r a c t e r o f c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n ce a t a gtime is one of th e bes t s i gn s we have of what is golng on jn a c o u n t r y 's p ol i f e . T he n a t u r e of v i o l e n c e a n d t h e n a t u r e o f t h e s o c i e t y e r e i t ~ t i m a t e l y

C o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n c e i s normal. That does not mean i t i s i ~ ~ l r i n s i cd e s i r a b l e , o r i n e v i t a b l e . F or ce n t u r y a f t e r c e n t u r y, t h c i n h a b i t a n t s o fs ou the r n I t a l y endur ed m a la r i a a s a norm a l f ac t o f l i f e ; today , Am er icanc i ty - dwe l le r s endur e sm og and ner ve - rend ing t r a f f i c a s norm a l f ac t s of l i c e


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few people hal l malar ia, smog or t ra ff ic jams. Europeans of other cen-t u r i es o f t en d es tro y ed ch i l d r en t hey cou l d no t p ro v id e fo r . Now i n fan t i -ci de has become rar e. Few of us mourn i t s p ass i n g. Bu t t h e f ac t t h a t i n -fn n t i c i d e p er s i s t ed so l o n g i n t h e f ace o f p er su as i v e t each i n g s and f ear -some pena l t ie s t el l s us something about the poverty and populat ion pres-sure under which people used t o l iv e in western countr ies . I t may evenhelp us understand some apparent ly barba ric pra ct i ces of people outsidethe West today. In s sim i la r way. both the p ersi sten ce of the phenomenono f co l l e c t i v e v i o l en ce and the change in i t s form wi thin European coun tr ie so v er t h e l a s t f ew cen t u r i e s h ave so met hi n g t o t each u s ab o u t t h e i r p o l i t -ic al l i f e, and even about contemporary forms of pro test .Ours Is Violent Histor)r

Long before our own t ime. Europeans were ai r i ng and set t l in g the i rgr ievances i n violen t ways. "To the his tor ian s eyes," says Marc Bloch.t h e g r e a t h i s t o r i a n o f feudal Europe, " the agra r ian rebe l l ion is a s i n -sep arab l e f ro m t h e se i g n l o r i a l r eg i me as t h e s t r i k e f ro m t h e g r ea t ca p i t a l -is t e n t e r p r i ~ e . " ~ he chief moments a t which ordina ry people appea red un-mi s t ak abl y o n t h e Eu ro pean h i s t o r i ca l scen e b efo re t h e i n d u s t r i a l ag e weremoments of r evol t : the Jacque rie of 1358, which len t i t s name to many la te rp easan t r eb e l l i o n s ; Wnt Tyle r's populnr re bel lio n of 1381; the German peas-n n t wars o f 1 5 25 ; t h e a s t o n i sh i n g p ro v i n c i a l i n su r r ec t i o n ag a i n s t Hen ryV I I I in 1536 and 1537, which come t o be known as th e Pilgri mage of Grace;the bloody revo lt of t he Don Cossacks i n the 1660s. Much of t he time th ep easan t su f f er ed i n s i l en ce . Now and then he found h is tongue, and hisvoice was violent .

C o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n t a s v o ic e i s a metaphor which occurs i n almost a l lhisto r inn s of popular movements before our own t ime. In the i r discu ssio no f t h e E n gl is h a g r i c u l t r ~ r a l a h o r c r , J.L. and Barbara Hsmmoned summed i t

up f o r a l l t h e i r c o l l e a g ue s :

The f ee l i n g s o f t h i s s i n k i n g c l ass , t h e an g er , d i smay, anddespai r wi th which i t watched the going out of a l l the wormco mfo rt and l i g h t o f l i f e , scar ce l y s t i r t h e s u r f a c e o fhisto ry. The upper class es have told us what the poor oughtt o h av e t h ou g h t of t h ese v i c i s s i t u d es ; r e l i g i o n , p h i l o so p h y ,and po l i t ic al economy were ready wi th al le via t i o~ rs nd ex-planat ion s which seemed singul ar ly h elp ful and convincingto the r i ch. The voice of th e poor themselves does not comet o o u r ear s . Th i s g r ea t p o p u l a ti o n seems t o r esemb l e n a t u r e ,and t o b ear a l l t h e s t o rms t h a t b ea t u p on i t wi t h a s t r an g es i l en ce and r es i g n at i o n . B ut j u s t as n a t u r e h as h er o m p owerof pr ote st in some sudden upheaval, so t hi s world of: men andwomen--an underground world as we tra ce th e dista nc es t ha ti t s v o i ces h ov e t o t r a v e l t o r each us --has a v o l can i c ch ar -a c t e r o f i t s own, and i t i s only by some volcani c su rpr iect h a t i t can speak th e language of remonst rance o r menace o rp ray er , o r p l ace o n r ecord i t s consciousness of wrong. 2

And the n th e Harmnonds proceed t o rcad th e re bel lio n of 1830 for si gn swhat was happening to th e agrarian popula tion of England.

Even wi t h t h e gro wt h o f r ep resen t a t i v e p o l i t i c a l i n s t i t i ~ t i o n no rd i n ary p eo p l e co n t in u ed t o s t a t e t h e i r d eman ds t h ro u g h v i o l en ce . TFrench histor ian of England. E l ie HalBvy, s tat ed the mat ter clea r ly :

Throughout the ei ghte enth centu ry England, t he s ole Europeancountry where the rei gning dynasty had been se t up as the re -su l t of a succ essf ul rebel l i on, had becn the home of insurr ec-


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tion. There had been an outbreak of anti-Jewish rioting in1753, when the Government had decided to grant the right ofnaturalization to the Jews domiciled in England. The Cabinethod yielded and repealed the statute. . . . In 1768 therewere riots against the Government. The popular hero Wilkestriumphed in the end over the opposition of court and Cab-inet. In 1780 an anti-catholic riot broke out; during fourentire days the centre oE London was given up t o pillage.A Government without a police force was powerless either toprevent these outrages or repress them promptly. The rightto riot or, as it was termed by the lawyers, 'the right toresistance,' was on integral part of the national tradi-tions.3

That "right of resistance" was, in fact, a part of the English legal tra-dition the American colonists insisted on in the very act of separatingthemselves from the mother country, and emphasized in their writings aboutthe new state they were bringing into being.

\Nor did collective violence fade out with the American Revolution,

or the French Revolution, or the multiple revolutions of 1 848, or theAmerican Civil War. Western history since 1800 is violent history, fullenough of revolutions, coups, and civil wars, but absolutely stuffed withconflict on a smaller scale.

The odd thing is how fast we forget. When Lincoln Steffens visitedLondon in 1910, he found distinguished members of Parliament convincedthat England was on the brink of revolution as a result of the angrystrikes of that time. The strikes nod the talk of revolution spreadthrough Great Britain during the next few years. In prickly Ireland--still

part of the United Kingdom, but barely--a real revolution woo shapinNow we look back to England as a country which solved its internal plems peacefully.

During the American rail strike of 1911,

In New Orleans railroad workers stole company records,switched or destroyed identification cards on freight cors,and cut the air hoses of as many as fifteen to twenty carsa day. Mobs of varying size constantly bombarded nonstrikerswith stones and gunfire. . . . In Illinois periodic incur-sions damaged or destroyed company property. On one occnsion,strike sympathizers in Carbondale turned loose o switch en-gin, which rammed into a freight train on the main line. . . .Turbulence and bloodshed led to o complete breakdown ofcivil government in sections of Misois~ippi. . . . For twosuccessive nights hordes swarmed through the streets of Cen-tral City, Kentucky. They set upon men in mil roa d cors andfired at employees lodged in temporary sleeping quarters. . .In the neighboring state of Tennessee the strike bred a rashof mobbings, stonings, gun battles, and killing^.^

Following the sacred ritual of such conflicts, the governor of Missideclared martial la w and blamed his state's troubles on "foreign agiThen it was the Americans' turn to speak of revolution. Only comforhindsight permits us to congratulate ourselves on our peaceful resolof violence.

Few French people recall that as recently as the end oE 19 49 rtionary committees blew up trains and seized control of railroad stapost offices, city halls, andotherpublic buildings in a dozen major


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ci t i es , incl uding Mnrsei l le, Grenoble, Nice and St . Et ienne. Then thenewspapers screamed "revolut ion" i n fea r or jubi lat io n. Now November andDecember, 1 9 47 , l o o k l i k e l i t t l e mo re t h an an ex cep t i o n al per i o d o f s t r i k eact ivi ty --so much so that French and American newspapers a li ke commonlyt rea ted t l ie momentous but esse nt ia l ly nonviolent stud ent pr ote sts of May,1968, a s " the la rge st French movement of pr ote st s inc e the war ." The mem-ory mncli ine has a t remendous capac i ty f or dest ruct ion of t he fa cts .

Th ere a r e many r easo n s fo r h i s t o r i c a l f o rg e t fu l n ess , b es i d es t h es i mp l e d es i r e t o i g n o re u n p l easant ev en t s . The r ecord i t s e l f t en d s t oco v cr t h e r eb e l ' s t r ack s . The mos t d e t a i l ed and b u l k i es t h i s t o r i ca l r ec-ords concerning col le ct i ve violence come from the proceedings of cou rts.p o l i ce d ep ar t men t s , mi l i t a ry u n i t s , o r o t h er ag en ci es o f g ov ern ment wo rki n gt o ap prehen d an d pu n i sh t h e i r ad v er sa r i es . The r eco rd s t h er efo re l ean t o -ward t he views of thos e who hold power. p r o t e s t e r s who e s c a pe a r r e s t a l s oescap e tiis ory.

Yet the most importa nt reason i s p ro bab l y t h a t s o l on g as h i s t o r i an sco n cen t r a t e on p o l i t i c a l h i s t o ry as seen f ro m t h e t o p . t h e o n l y p ro t es t swhich mat ter a re th ose which produce some rearrange ment of power. TheHamo n ds ag a i n mak e t h e es sen t i a l p o i n t when d i scu ss i n g t h e r eb e l l i o n o f1830:

This chapter of so ci al h is tor y has been overshadowed by ther i o t s t h a t f o l l owed t h e r e j ec t i o n o f t h e R efo rm B i l l . Every -one knows about the de st ruc t ion of th e Mnnsion House a t Bris-to l, and the burning of Nottingham Cast le; few know of th edest ruct ion of t l ie hated workhouses at Selborne and Headley.The r i o t s a t No tt in gh am an d B r i s t o l were a p r e l u d e t o v i c-tory; they were the wi ld s hout of power. I f t h e r i s i n g o f1830 had succeeded, and won back for th e laboure r hi s lo st

livelihood, th e day when th e llead ley workhousc wee thrown downwould be remembered by th e poor as t he day of th e taki ng oft h e B as t i l l e . B ut t h i s r eb e l l i o n f a i l ed , and t h e men who l edt h a t l a s t s t r u g g l e f o r t h e l a b o u r e r pa s se d i n t o t h e f o r g e t f u l -n ess o f d ea t h and ex i l e .5

Th i s se l e c t i v e memory ev en o p era t es a t an i n t e rn a t i o n a l sca l e . Mo deSpain and modem France have acquired th e repu tat io n of violen t nat iowhi le Sweden and England pass fo r areas of domest ic t rnn qui l i t y . Sud i f f er en c es a r e h erd t o measure o b j ec t i v e l y . But i f numbers of pa r tp a n t s o r c a s u a l t i e s o r d amog e d o nc ar e t h e s t an d ard s , t h en t h c ac t u afer en ces a r e f a r smal l e r t han t h e d i f f e r en c es i n r ep u t a t i o n . One i nnat i onal e st im ate oE "deaths from domest ic group violenc e per mi l l io npopula tion" from 1950 through 1962 ra te s Sweden end England at 0, Sp0.2, and Prance a t 0 .3 , a s compared wi t li 2 for Greece. 1 0 for Ethiop4 9 fo r So u th Korea . o r 1 .33 5 f o r Hu ~ i g ary .~Of c ours e Spnin and Franq u i r ed t h e i r d i so rd er l y r ep u t a t i o n s wel l b efo re t h e 1 95 0 s. Yet d u r iv ery per i o d o f t h ese s t a t i s t i c s F ran ce exp er i en ced t h e g r ea t r i o t s bon by the Algeria n war and the s er ie s of i nsur rec t ions which broughtth e Fourth Republic. Obviously the amount of bloodshed i s not what most.

The day-by-day record of the se count r ies over a longer per iod wise rev eals much more co l le ct i ve viole nce i n Sweden or England thanp eaceab l e r ep u t a t i o n s su g g es t . The l a rg e d i f f e r en ce i n n o t o r i e t y mol ik el y comes from the f ac t tha t i n Spnin and France t i le prote ste rs sot i mes su cceed ed i n t o p p l i n g t h e r egi me. Th ere a r ea l d i f f e r en c e . i mp o r t an t p u zz l e : how d i d t h e B r i t i s h p o l i t i c a l sy s t em su rv i v e p ro t eand yet change in fundnmental ways, while Spani sh regimes snapped and


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crumbled? But th e se cr et i s by no means simply t he co ntr ast between nn-arch ic peoples and law-abiding ones.

T he r e c o rd so f a r a va i l a b l e sugge -s t s t ha t t he h i s t o r i e s o f c o l l e c t i veviolence a s such i n western European count r ie s over the modern period havehad a good d ea l i n common. There have been lar ge di ffe rence s in th e wayst h e r u l e r s o f d i f f e r e n t s t a t e s h av e r es p on de d t o c o l l e c t i v e v i o l en c e , o ri n i t i a t e d i t , and consequent ly i n i t s impact .on the st r uct ur e of power.There hove been fewer di fferen ces in the evo lut io n of the bas ic forms andc o n d i t i o ns o f c o l l e c t i v e v i o le n c e.

In these c i rcumstances, i t i s tempt ing to turn away from refle c t io nson na t i o~ u t l o l i t i c s o r na t i one l c ha r a c t e r t oward i de a s a bout t he i m pa ct o fi n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n . A number of the ori es proposed to account f or vari ousfo rm s of p ro t e s t i n con te m pora ry na t i ons a s we l l a s i n t he we s t e rn h i s t o r i c a le xpe r i e nc e sugge s t a s t a nda rd c yc l e : a r e l a t i v e l y i n t e g r a t e d t r a d i t i o n a lsoc i e t y b re a ks up unde r t he s t r e ss a nd move me nt o f i ndus t r i a l i z a t i on , t he 'st re ss and movement st i mula te q w i de v a r i e t y o f v i o l e n t r e a c ti o n s - - a t f i r s tc ha o t i c , bu t g ra dua l l y a c qu i r i ng a m e asu re o f c ohere nc e. New means ofcon tro l and ways of r e - i n t e g ra t i ng t he d i sp l a c e d se gm e nt s of t he popu l a t i oni n t o o r d e r l y s o c i a l l i f e e v e n t u a ll y d e ve l op , a n d f i n a l l y a m a tu r e i n d u s t r i a lsoc l e t y he l d t oge t he r by wi de spre a d , ge ne ra l l y pa c i f i c po l i t i c a l pa r t i c i pa t i o nemerges. In such a theory, t he s t i m u l us t o c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e nc e come s l a rge l yf rom tl ie a nx i e t i e s pe op l e e xpe r i enc e when e s t a b l i she d i n s t i t u t i on s f a l l a pa r t .

Not only scho lars hold such a theory. I t i s our principal . folk theoryof so cia l change. It reappea rs almost every time ordinar y Americans (and, f ortha t mat ter , government commissions and wel l- informed jou rna l is ts) disc ussr i o t s , o r c r i m e , o r f a m il y d i so rga n i z at i on . It encour ages, For exampl.e, th egenera l . i l l .usion t hat higll . ly mobi le people and recent migrants to the c i t y

have g re a t e r i nc l i n a t i ons t o r i o t i ng , c r i m e, o r f a m i ly i n s t a b i l i t y t hgenera l popula t ion. I t encourages the dubious not ion that i f poor naon l y become r i c h f a s t e nough t he y wi l l a l so be come po l i t i c a l l y s t a b l ethe theory runs i nt o t roubl e when i t t u rns ou t t h a t r e c e n t m i g ra n t s omore disorgan ized than the re st of the popula t i on, tha t murder is abocommon (pr oport ionat e ly speaking) in the country a s i t is i n t h e c i t yt ha t t he wor l d ' s we a l t h i e s t no t i ons a r e qu i t e c a pa b l e of dom e s ti c t u rPo l i t i c s a nd Vi o le nce

My own explora t i ons of western Europe, es pecia l ly Fmnce, over l a s t f e w c e n t u r i e s sugge s t a m ore po l i t i c a l i n t e rp r e t a t i o n o f c o l l e c tv i o l enc e . Fa r from be i ng m ere s i de e f f e c t s o f u rbe n i z at i on , i ndus t r iz a t i on , a nd o t he r l a r ge s t r uc t u ra l c ha nge s . v i o l e n t p ro t e s t s g row m ore c t l y f rom t he s t rugg l e fo r e s t a b l i sh e d p l a c e s i n t l ie s t ruc t u re o f pEven presumably non-pol i t ica l Forms of col l ec t i ve violence l ik e the ot a x r e vo l t a r e no rma l ly d i r e c t e d a ga i n s t t he a u t ho r i t i e s , ncc om pa ni edc r i t i que of t he a u t ho r i t i e s ' m e et i ng o f t he i r r e sp ons i b i l i t i e s , a nd iforme d by a se nse o f j u s t i c e de n ie d t o t he pa r t i c i pa n t s i n t he p ro t e sFurthermore , inst ead of const i tu t in g a sharp break from "normal" po ll i fe , viol ent p rot est s tend t o accompany, complement and extend orgapeaceful a t tempt s by the same people to accomplish thei r object ives.

Ove r t he l ong run , t he p roc e sse s m os t r e gu l a r l y p roduc ing c o l l eviolence a re tho se by which groups acqu ire or l ose membership in th ei t ic a l communi ty. The form and locus of col le c t i ve violence th erefovary gre at l y depending on whether th e major po l i t ic a l change going oa g roup ' s a c qu i s i t i on o f t he p r e re qu i s i t e s o f m e m be rshi p, i t s l o s s ot hose p re re qu i s i t e s , o r a s t l i f t i n he o r g an i z at i o n o f t h e e n t i r e p oc a l syst e m.

The impact of la r ge st r uct ura l changes such as urbanizat ion , in


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t r i a l i z n t i on a nd popu l a t i on g rowt h , i t seems t o me, comes through th ei rc r e a t i on o r de s t ruc t i on o f g roups c on t e nd ing fo r power and through the irshaping of the av ai lab le means of coerc ion. In t he sho r t run , t he g rowt hof l a r ge c i t i e s a nd r a p i d m i g ra ti on f rom ru ra l t o u rba n a re a s i n we s t ernEurope probably ac ted as a damper on violen t pro tes t , ra t her than a s purt o i t . T ha t i s so fo r two reasons:

1. The proces s withdrew discon tent ed peop le from communities in whichthey a l read y had the means fo r col l ec t ive ac t ion and placed themi n c om munit i es where t he y had ne i t he r t he c o l l e c t i v e i d e n t i t y no rt he m ea ns ne c e ssa ry t o s t r i k e t oge t he r .

2. l t t ook c ons i de ra b l e t i me a nd e f f o r t bo t h fo r t he i nd i v i dua l m i g ran tt o a s s i m i l at e t o t h e l a r g e c i t y , an d t hu s t o j o i n t h e p o l i t i c a ls t r i v i n gs o f h i s f e l l ows , a nd fo r t h e new fo rm s of o rga n i z a t i on f o rc o l l e c t i ve a c t i on t o g row up i n t he c i t i e s .

If so, the European experience resembles t he American experience . I n t h eUnit e d S t a t e s , de sp i t e e nduri ng myths t o t he c on t r a ry , poo r , up roo t ednewcome rs t o b i g c i t i e s ge ne ra l l y t a ke a l ong t i me t o ge t i nvo l ved i na ny th i ng - -cr i me , de l i nque ncy , po l i t i c s , a ssoc i a t i ons , p ro t e s t , r i o t i ng - -

requir ing conta cts and experiences outside a smal l world of Eriends andre l a t i ve s . T he se t h i n g s a r e a t l e a s t a s t r u e o f E u r o p e a nc i t i e s .

In the long run, however, urbanizat i on deeply shaped the condi t io nsunder wlllch the new groups fought fo r po li ti ca l membership. and urbanizo-t i o n ' s s ec on d ar y e f f e c t s i n t h e c o u n t r y si d e s t i r r e d a v a r i e t y o f p r o t e s t s .The move t o t he c i t y helped t r a ns fo rm t he c ha ra c t e r o f c o l l e c t i ve v i o l e nc ei n a t l e a s t t h r e e wa ys :

1. by grouping people in la rge r homogeneous blocs (esp ecia l l y viafacto ry and th e working-c lass neighborhood) than ever bcforc ;

2. by f a c i l i t a t i ng t he fo rm at i on o f spe c i a l - i n t e r e s t n ssoc i n t i ons(notably th e union and the p arty) incorpora t ing many people ancapable of informing, mobi l iz ing and deploying them re l a t i vcl ya nd e f f i c i e n t l y ;

3. by m a ssi ng t he pe op l e pos i ng t he g re a t e s t t h r e a t t o t he a u t ho rnear th e urban se ats of power, and thus encouraging the auth ort o a dop t new s t r a t e g i e s a nd t nc t i c s fo r c on t ro l l i ng d i s s i de nc e

For the people who remained in t he country, the r i s e of the c i t ie s mi nc re a s i ng l y i n s i s t e n t dem ands fo r c rops a nd t a xz s t o suppor t t h e u re s t a b l i shm e n t, i nc re a s i ng l y v i s i b l e i m pac t on i nd i v i dua l f a rm er s o f a nd p r i c i ng po l i c i e s s e t i n t he c i t i e s , a nd i nc re a s i ng l y e f f i c i e n t mexact ing obedience from the those i n th e country. A11 o f t he se , i n t ime, inc i te d violent pro tes t throughout Europe.

Of cou rs e, def in i t i ve evidence on such large and tnngled questt e r r i b l y ha rd t o come by. Up un t i l ve ry r e c e n t t i me s , f ew h i s t o r l nnt a ke n t he s t udy of c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e nc e a s such ve ry se r i ou s l y . A s AGram sci , t he I t a l i a n so c i a l i s t ph i l o sophe r -h i s t o r l on . pu t i t :

This is th e custom of our t ime: ins tead of otudying the ori ginof a col le c t iv e event , and the reasons Eor i t s sp re a d . . . thi so l a t e t he p ro t a gon i s t a nd l i m i t themselves t o doing a biog-raphy of pathology, too oft en concerning themselves wi th un-ascer ta ine d motives, o r inte rpr e t in g tl lcm in the wrong way; foa soc i a l e l i t e t he f e a t u re s o f subord i na t e g roups a lwnys d i s -playing something barbaric and pathologlcnl . ,


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Sinc e World War 11, however, a con sid era ble number of Prench andEngl ish his tor ian s, and a much sma l ler number of Americans, have begun t os t udy a nd wr i t e h i s t o ry " from be l ow"- -a c t ual l y t ry i ng t o t r a c e t he e xpe r l -ences and ac t ion s of larg e numbers of ordin ary men from the i r own poin t ofview. This approach has had a speci a l impact on the study of prot est s andre be l l i ons . As a r e s u l t , we a r e be g i nn i ng t o ge t a r i c he r , r e a r r a nge dp i c t u re o f t he po l i t i c a l l i f e o f p l a i n pe op l e i n Fra nce a nd E ng l and ( and ,t o a l e sse r e x t e n t , o t he r E urope an c oun t r i e s ) ov e r t he l a s t f e w c e n t u r i e s .

The new var ie ty of evidence makes i t possi ble t o iden t i fy some majorsh i f t s i n t he p re dom ina nt fo rm s o f c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e nc e i n t hose c oun t r i e sover the modern period . Without too much shoving, we can place th e f om s-of c o l l e c t i ve v i o l e nc e wh ic h ha ve p re va i l e d du r i ng t h a t . l ong pe r i od i rr t h r e ebroad ca tegor ies: pr imi t ive , react i onary , and modern; The primi t iveva r i e t i e s onc e p re dom i na t ed , un t i l c e n t r a l i z e d s t a t e s be ga n d ragg i ngE urope ans i n t o po l i t i c a l l i f e on a l a rge r t ha n l oc a l sc a l e . As Thorste inVeblen put i t in hi s sardoni c Imperia l Germany and the In dus t r ia lRevolut ion, ". . . so soon a s t he k i ng ' s domi ni ons i nc re a se d t o suc h a s i z ea s t o t a ke hi m pe r sona l l y ou t o f r a nge o f a n e f f e c t u a l a u rve i l l a nc e byneighborly sent iment . . . the crown would be abl e t o use the loyal t y ofone neighborhood in enforc ing exact i ons from another , and the royal powerwou ld t he n p re se n t l y f i nd no o t he r obs t a c l e t o i t s c on t i nue d growth t ha nthe l i mi t placed upon i t by t he s t a t e o f t he i n d u s t r i a l a r t s . " g I n t h ep roc e ss , t he k i ng ' s r e t l nu e produc ed t he a ppa ra t us o f t he s t a t e , wh ic h t he nacqu ired momenLum of i t s own. That tr ansf orma tion acc ele ra ted through much

vlolencc have dwindled very slowly, bu t very st ead i l y. Now they occur r a r e l y , on l y a t t he m a rg i ns o f o rga ni z e d po l i t i c s .

The react iona ry forms, by con tra st , burgeoned as th e M i o n a l sbegan t o grow. That was f ar from coincidence; they most of te n developpa r t o f t he r e s i s t a nc e o f va r i ous comnunal g roups t o i nc o rpo ra t i on I n t onat io nal s ta te and the nat io nal economy. But t he s t a t e won t he c on t e s tin most coun tr ies of western Eurooe the react ionary forms of col lec t iveviolence peaked and then faded away in th e i r tur n during t he nineteen thcentury. They gave way to modern forms of col l ec t iv e vio lence , chara ctized by la rger s ca l e , more complex organ izat io n, and bids f or changes io p e r a ti o n o r c o n t r o l o f t h e s t a t e a p p a r at u s , r a t h e r t h an r e s i s t a n c e t odemands. Al though duri ng very recent years we have seen what might be o f a no t he r l a rge sh i f t i n t he form a nd l ocus of c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e nc e , fol a s t c e n t u ry t he m odem fo rm s ha ve pushe d a l l o t he r s a s i de .Primi t ive Co l lec t i ve Violence

Pr i m i t i ve va r i e t i e s o f c o l l e c t i ve v i o l enc e i nc l ude t he f e ud , t hebrawl among members of r i va l gi lds or co munes, and the mutual a t ' tacks hos t i l e r e l i g i ou s g roups . (Ba nd i t ry , a s E.J. Hobsbawm ha s sa i d , s t a ndst he e dge o f t h i s c a t e go ry by v i r t ue o f i t s f r e q u e n t a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h ee x i s t i ng d i s t r i bu t i on o f ppwer a nd we a l t h , a nd i t s f r e que n t o r i g i n i n s t a t e ' s c r e a t i o n o f ou tl a ws a s pa r t o f t he a t t e m pt t o ex t e nd l e ga l a u t hto formerly ungoverned areas.) Pr i m i t i ve fo rms o f ko l l e c t i ve v i o l e nc esha re se ve ra l f e a t u re s : s m l l sc a l e , l oc a l scope , pa r t i c i pa t i on by m eof communal g roups a s suc h, i ne x p l i c i t and u~ ~ p o l i t i c a lb j e c t i ve s . Al mre ge rd l c ss o f t he que s t i ons a t i s sue , fo r e xam pl e , Frenchmen could counn nal iona l po l l t i c a l c r i s i s t o p rocl uc e ba t t l e s bc t we e n Pro t e s t a n t s a nd

o l wc s l ern Europe a f t e r l b00 . S i nc e t he n , t he p r i m i l i ve form s o f c o l l e c t i ve


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Cathol ic s in Nlmes and Albi . At tacks on the persons and prop ert i es ofJews accompanied eighteenth-century rebe l l ion s i n England and ninetee nth-cen t u ry r eb e l l i o n s i n F rance . The v en d et t a and t h e b an d i t r a i d , t o o , t o okon s d e g re e o f p o l i t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e i n t i me s of n a t i o n a l c r i s i s . .

The ri xe de compagnonnages--the bo tt le roy al between members of r iv alcr af t co rp o rat i o n s --o f t en l e f t b l oo d i n t h e s t r ee t s . I n 1 8 30 , a ch n rac t er -i s t i c& n Bordeaux involv ed 300 ar t i s an s; two were reported dead, manywerc wounded, and the lo ca l inns were le f t a shambles. In 1835, th e news-paper & Conat i tu t ionnel car r ied the fol lowing st ory from Chl lons-sur-Sa6ne:

The compagnons du Devoir, c al le d tk?vorans, follow ing an alt er -ca t i o n o n t h e p r ev io u s d ay and a ch a l l en g e by l e t t e r t o f i g h tthe compagnons de Libcrtd , cal led Gavots, in th e open country,a t t ack ed t h e mo t her h o use o f t h e l a t t e r i n t h e ru e S t . An-toine. Huge ston es, b ig enough to ki l l an ox, were thrownthrough th e windows. 10

Tlie very prevalence of such fraca ses gave the inha bi ta nts of ninetee nth-cen t u ry F ren ch c i t i e s a wi de acq u ain t an ce wi t h co l l ec t i v e v i o l en ce . I nLondon, likewise. " l t was usual fo r the boys of St . Anne's par ish t o Eightthose of St . Gi le s armed wi th st ic ks Eor 'a week or two before th e hol idays. 'Th i s f ac t su rv i v es , b ecause i n 1 7 22 t h e cn p t a i n o f t h e b o ys o f S t . G i l es , achimney sweep aged twenty-one, was ki ll ed by anothe r boy, aged sixt ee n.E a r l i e r s t i l l , ' p r en t i c e r i o t s were ser i o u s an d f r eq u en t d i s t u rb an ces t o 'the peace of London."ll The preva lence of th e rixe in Europe before modernt imcs simply expressed t h e i n t en se s o l l d ar i t y o f each gro up o f u rban cr aEt smen, for (an been sai d of Ccrmon nrt io nns) " 'Tl~ci r group spi r i t t l ~rnc dn:;nlnst ot l lcr ji rolrpn and took nn in su l t to an indiv idua l as an aff ron t t ot h e whole n s s o ~ i a t i o n . " ~ ~omething l i k e t ha t s o l id a r i t y l i e s c l o ~ e o t h e

core of most of th e pr imi t ive forms of collective vioLcnce.Th i s d o es n o t mean t h e f i g h t i n g was a l way s i n r ag e an d d ead l

Ju s t as t o d ay ' s l umbermen o r sa i l o r s o n a weekend wl l l nuu and thena b ar o u t of sh ee r bo redo m, f ru s t r a t i o n , o r h i g h sp i r i t s , t h e work mBerl in or Turin sometimes brawled for the fun of I t . On such occast r ad i t i o n a l en mi t i es p ro v i d ed n o more t h an t h e p r e t ex t . I n t h e Eu ro f t h e p r e - i n d u s t r i a l a g e , f u n e r a l s , f e a s t s , a n d f a i r s p r o vi d ed p u bo ccas i o ns o u t o f whi ch f lo wed co l l ec t i v e v i o l en ce o f f er i n g d l v er s l oyoung a s wel l a s expr ess ing deeply-rooted communal r i v a l r i e s .

Stud ents , and even schoolboys, di splayed some of the same vipropensities. A t t h e J e s u i t c o l l e g e of Ln Fl b ch e , d u r i n g t h e cern iof 1646, the boys dec lare d they had been dishonored by the publ ic fof some of th ei r number, and st aged an armed mut iny. "The re bels .s t o o d i n t h e av en u es , a rmed wi t h swo rd s , s t i c k s , b l ack j a ck s , an d s tdr iving back the pu pi l s who came out when the be l l rang to go to throoms .'i3 In England:

There was indi sc ipl ine and rebe l l ion everywhere. At Wlnct~est e r , i n t h e l a t e e i g h t een t h cen t u ry , t h e b o ys o ccu p ied t h eschool for two days and hoisted the red f la g. Ln 1818 two

companies of t r oops wi th f ixe d bayonets hnd to bc cal le d i nt o su p p ress a r i s i n g o f t h e p u p i l s . At Rl rgb y, t h e p ~ ~ p i l sse t f i r e t o t h e i r h o ok s and d esk s and wi t l ~ d rew o an i s l an dwhich had to be taken by ass au lt hy the army. There wcrcs i m l l a r i n c i d e n t s a t E to n. 14

Ag ai n , t h e i n t en se s o l i d ar i t y o f t h e s t u d en t s - -a k i n d o f h ro tl ~ er li o ol eag u e ag a i n s t t h e i r mas t er s - - fn c i l i t a t ed t l i e l r i n d i g n at i o n ancl t h dcommon act io n.


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A number of the oth er common prim itiv e forms of col lec ti ve viole ncehad th is curlou s combinat ion of es pr i t de corps, rec rea t i on, and grim de-term inat ion, a combination which the En glish somehow managed t o trans mutei n t o t h e s p o r tl n g s p i r i t . The free- for- all among men from di ff er en t towns(from which i t i s sa i d , i n f a c t , t ha t va r i ous fo rm s o f foo t ba l l de ve l ope d )has some of thi s char acter . So does the rag, charade , or chari vari . Yeti t would be qu i t e wrong t o c ons i de r t he p r i m i t i ve v a r i e t i e s o f c o l l e c t i vev i o l e nc e a s no t h ing bu t e a r l y ve r s i ons o f soc c e r . The deadly vendet ta ,the endemic bandi t ry of t he European highlands, the pervasive Sic i l ia nscourg e called Mafia, and the occasi onal mil len ari an movements which havera cke d sou t he rn E urope sha re many t r a i t s wi t h t he a ppa re n t l y t r i v i a l k i ndsof col lec t iv e violence . What se t s the primi t ive forms of violence off fromt he o t he r s i s no t a l a c k o f se r i ousne ss , bu t t he i r a c t i v a t i on o f l o c a l com-munal groups as such, and usu al ly in opp osi t ion to o ther communal groups.Reactionary Collec t ive Violence

Re a c t i ona ryd i s t u rb a nc e s o re a l s o u sua l l y sm al l i n sc a l e , bu t t he ypi t ei th er communal groups or loosely-o rganize d members of t he general pop-ula t io n agains t repr esent a t ive s of those who hold power, and tend t o in-c lude a cr i t i qu e of t he way power i s being wielded. The for ci bl e occupa-t i on of f i e l d s and fo re s t s by t he l a nd l e ss , t he r e vo l t a ga i ns t t h e t a xc o l l e c t o r , t h e a n t i - c onsc r i p t ion r e be l l i on . t he food r i o t , a nd t he a t t a c kon machines were western Europe's most frequent forms of reac t ionar y col -l e c t i ve v i o l e nc e . The r isky term "react ionary" appl i es t o these forms ofc o l l e c t i ve v i o l e nc e be c ause t he i r pa r t i c i p a n t s we re comon1 .y r e a c t i ng t osome change which they regarded a s depri ving them of r ig ht s they had onceenjoyed; they were backward-looking. They were .no t, however, simplef l i g h t s f ro m r e a l l t y . On the contrary, they had a c lose connect ion wi thr o u t i n e , p e ac e fu l p o l i t i c a l l i f e .

For ordlnary Er~ropeans f a few centuries ago, the most per sispo l i t i c a l i s sue s we re t he dem ands o f t he na t i o n - s t a t e a nd of t he naeconomy. And t he food r i o t , a s un l i ke l y a s i t s e em s, i l l u s t r a t e s t hpressing n atu re of these demands very wel l . Seemingly born of hungdoomed t o f u t i l i t y , t he food r i o t a c t ua l l y e xp re sse d t he i nd l gna t i onand women who fe l t they were being deprived of th e i r r ig hts and whor i o t i ng , we re o f t e n a b l e t o r e s t o re a se m bl a nce o f t hose r i gh t s - - i f

t e m pora r i l y .The west European food r i ot had a c la ss ic form: s e i z u r e o f g

being stor ed or t ran spor ted i n a town, demonstra t ions (and somet imesharm) di rec t ed agai ns t those presumed t o be profi t eer ing through th eo r hoa rd i ng o f g ra i n , a nd sa l e o f t he g ra i n a t a pub l i c l y -p roc l a i m edpr i c e , t he p roc e e ds go i ng t o t he ovne r o f t he g ra i n . Such food r iooc c u r re d t h roughou t t he e i gh t e e n t h c e n t u ry i n E ng la nd , a nd du r i ng t hthi rd of the nine teent h centu ry. They were , indeed, one of the chieponents of England's la rge agra ria n rebel l io n of 1816. A . J . Peacockde sc r i be s t he be g i nn ing o f one o f t he p r i nc i pa l i nc i de n t s o f t ha t , r e

A crowd had sl ar ted assembling i n the mnrkct plnce a t ahouLnin e o'clock th at morning. About an hour la te r some womencame along who announced th at th ei r men were follo win g tlicmbu t had s t opped a l ong t he T he t fo rd roa d t o c o l l e c t s t i c k s .Eventual ly f i f ty o r more, a l l a rmed, and led by Wil l iam Pev-e r e t t , a l a bou re r , m arched i n t o t he squa re c a r ry i ng wh i t e andre d f l a gs . Wil le t t , th e butcher , who was amongst the crowd,told Pevere t t th a t the par ish would le t them have the f1011ra t 2s. 6d. i f they would dispers e , and asked fo r a deputa-t ion to go a long wi th him to meet the magist ra t es. llelen


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Dyer, a marr ied woman, had ea r l ie r to ld Wil le t t th at , al -though she could not read, she had a paper conta ining thecrowd's demnnds, which she wanted shown to t he magi str ate s.On i t was writt en, "Bread or Blood in Brandon thi s day." 15

Fina l ly , af te r severa l days of mi l l in g, grumbl ing, stonin g of windows, andpul l i ng down of bui ldings, the magist ra tes:

. . . g u aran t eed t h e p r i ce o f f l o u r s t 2s. 6d. per stone.wi th on advance of wages to 2s. per head for a for tn ight .o nd u n l ess t h e mi l l e r s r ed uce t h e i r p r i ces b y t h a t t ime.t h e o f f i c e r s o f t h e p a r i s h w i l l p u rch ase t h e i r g r a i n a tt h e ch eap es t r a t e , and fu rn i sh t h e p o o r wi t h provisionsa t p r ime co s t . 1 6

To mod ern ey es , t h e cu r i o u s f ea t u r e o f t h i s ev en t is t h a t t h e r i o t e r s d i dn o t l o o t , d i d n o t s t ea l , b u t demand ed t o 9 o o d a t a p r i c e t he y c o u l da f f o r d . Furthermore, i t i s c l e a r t h a t t h e c ro wd d i r e c t e d t h e i r a n g er a tt h e au t h o r i t i e s , ex p ect ed th em t o ac t , an d , i n d eed, b arg a in ed wi t h th em.

In f ac t , t h e fo o d r i o t was an a t t emp t t o mak e t h e merch an ts an d t h em u n ic i pa l a u t h o r i t i e s me e t t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s : h o l d i n gg ra i n wi t h i n t h e t own t o meet l o ca l n eed s b efore p er mi t t i n g i t t o e o t e r t h enat i onal market , and assu ring t he town poor of a supply of gra in s t a p r i c ep ro p er l y ad j u s t ed t o t h e l o ca l l e v e l o f wag es . As g r e a t c i t i es g r ew up i nwes t ern Euro pe d u r i n g t h e sev en t een t h an d e i g h t een t h cen t u r i es , an d n a t i o n almarkets i n grai n developed to feed them. i t b ecame h ard er an d l es s p ro f i t -a b l e f o r m e rc h a nt s a nd o f f i c i a l s t o g i v e p r i o r i t y t o L oc al n e e ds . And s omen r io ted to hold them to the bargain. The geography of the food r io t (a tl ea s t i n F ran ce , wh ere i t h as b een b es t map ped) su g g es t s a s mu ch: n o t i n

the area s of grea tes t famine and poverty , b u t i n t h e h i n t er l an d s o f bc i t i es and g ra in - sh i pp i n g p o r t s .

The case o f I t a l y p o i n t s u p t h e i mpo r t on ce of t h e co n t ro l (as posed to the sh eer quant i ty) of the food supply.l7 In En gl and , t h e cfoo d r i o t v i r t u a l l y d i sap p eared af t e r 1 83 0 ; i n F rn nce , a f t e r 1 84 8 ; i nI ta ly , toward the end of the nineteenth c entury. The timing oC tha t appearance corresponds approximately to th e pace of technical improvei n t h e p ro d u ct i on and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f g r a i n . I t a l s o fo l l ows t h e d est i o n o f t r a d i t i o n a l c o n t r o l s o ve r t h e g r a i n t r a de . b u t a t a s i g n i f i c ad i s t a n c e .

The bad harv ests of 1853, fo r example, brought food r i ot s thrmuch of western Europe. I n t h e I t a l i a n p e n in s u la , t h e r i o t s o f t h oco n cen t r a t ed i n t h e p ro sp ero us No rt h - -P i edmo n t, P a m . Tu scan y -- a l ths h o r t a g e w as a t l e a s t e q u a l l y a c u t e i n t h e s i l e n t S o ut h . The northa u t h o r i t i e s h a d g e n e r a l l y a d o p te d p o l i c i e s f a v o r i n g f r e e t r a d e i n gi n t h e so u t h ern Kin gd om o f t h e h o S i c i l i e s . p a t e r n a l i s m r e i gn e d .

In 1859, however, the new, progressive King Francesco of the S i c i l i e s b eg an t o l i b e r a l i z e t h e g r a i n t r a d e . In 1860 he faced widfood r i ot s of the South. At the t ime of the October , 1860, p l e b i s ct h e u n i f i ca t i o n o f I t a l y t h er e were r eb e l l i o n s i n t h e So ut h . t o t h e"The old king fed us." The o l d k i n g was F ran ccsco ' s f a t h er , who h at a i ne d t h e t r a d i t i o n o l c o n t r o l s .

A l l th is may appear unduly compl icated f or anything s o simpla fo od r i o t . Th at i s t h e p oi n t : t h e ex t en t t o wh ich t h ese r ecu r r eap p aren t l y sp o n t an eo u s ev en t s r es t ed o n an d grew from t h e l o ca l b t ro f p o l i t i c s , a n d th e e x t e n t t o w hi c h th e c r i s e s o f l o c a l p o l i t i c s dr esp o nses Lo p ressu res f r o n~ h e cen t er . Far f rom being a momentary


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20

l o ca l r ea c t i o n t o mi sery , t h e fo o d r i o t r eco rded t h e u rb an l za t l o n andcen t rn l iz a 1o11 of European nat io n-st ates .

Tl~ c ood r loL had companions. The ant i -c ons cr i pt io n re be l l Lon, ther c s l s t a n c e t o t h e t a x c o l l e c t o r , t h e v i o l e n t oc c u p a ti o n of f i e l d s a ndfor est s, the breaking of re aper s or power looms a l l had many of the sameclror octe r ist l cs. Al though they of t en appeared in bunches, each of theev en t s was mo re o r l es s l o c a l an d se l f -co n t n i n ed . I n s t ead o f p i t t i n g o necomnu nal g rou p ag a i n s t an o t h er , t h ey s t o o d a s i g n i f i can t seg men t o f t h ep o p u la t i o n a g a l n s t t h e l o c a l e l i t e o r t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e c e n t r a lpower. ("When the French peasant p ain ts the de vi l ," sa id Karl Marx in 1850,"he pai nts him in the guise of the ta x col lector .")18 Th e o rg an i za t i o n o fthe formot ions taking par t was,rudimentary. I t wa s e s s e n t i a l l y t h e o r g a ni -za t i o n o f every day l i f e : u ser s o f a common mr k e t , a r t i s an s o f t h e sameshop, a s ing le commune's draf t -age boys, and so on. B ecau se o f t h i s t i ewi t h everyday groupings, those who took per t of t en inclu ded women. chi ldr en,and old people. The par t ici pan ts were ei th er re sis t in g some new demand( t ax e s , c o n scr i p t i o n ) l a i d o n th em by o u t s i d er s , p ro t e s t i n g ag a i n s t wh att h ey v ie we d a s a d e p r i v a t i on o f t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l r i g h t s ( t h e p r o h i b i t i o no f g l ean i n g i n f i e l d s 'an d fo r e s t s , t h e i n t ro d u ct i o n o f machi n ery ), o r b o t h .Al l o f t hem, i n o ne way o r an o t h er , amo u nt ed t o ac t i o n ag a i n s t t h e fo r c i b l e

Ii n t eg r a t i o n o f l o ca l g ro u p i ng s i n t o t h e n a t i o n a l eco no my and t h e n a t i o n als t a t e . I b el i ev e- -b u t t h i s i s a h u nch fo r whi ch l i t t l e ev i d en ce i s y e ta v a i l a b l e - - th o t a l l t he r e a c t i o n a r y f o rm s of c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n c e w i l l t u r no u t t o h av e had an ex t r ao rd i n ary ap p eal f o r j u s t t h o se seg men t s o f t h eEuropeat r populat ion whose pol i t i ca l and economic id en t l t i es the se changeswere dissolv ing. The larg e numbers of rura 1 ar t i sa ns whose l ive l ihoo dsd i sap p cn red wi t h t h e ex p an s io n o f u rb an i n d u s t ry d u r i n g t h e n i n e t ee n t h

cen t u ry ar e t h e mo st i mp or t ant case , b u t ag r i cu l t u r a l d ay - l ab o rer s an dpe tt y nobles fac ed some of t he same problems.

The ru r a l u n rcs t o f Eng land d u r l n g t h e ear l y n i n e t een t h cen i u ry i n t o t h i s g e n e r al p a L t e rn . In ad d l t i o n t o r ecu r r en t f o o d r i o t s , t h e Encou ntr ysi de produced movements of pr ot es t in 1816, 1822, 1830, 1834-35,1843-44, wi th th e 1830 rebel l io n cov ering much of south eas tern England.Du r ln g t h e ev en ts o f 1 8 3 0, t h e v i l l ag e r eb e l s co n c en t r a t ed an t h r ee so ro f ac t i o n : (1 ) l ev y i ng a o n ce - t r ad i t i o n a l co n t r i b u t i o n o f b eer o r mon et h e l o c a l r i c h ; ( 2 ) imposing a wage agreement on the employers of day-l a b o r e r s ; ( 3 ) d es t ro y i n g n ew f arm mach i n ery , es p ec i a l l y t h r esh er s . Fo rthose who re si ste d, t l re crowds reserved persona l at ta ck s, the tear i ng dof bui ldi ngs, and the burning of hayricks. During one of the l arg er oub r e a ks , i n W i l t s h i r e ,

The mob destroyed v ario us thr esh ing machines of Mr. Be nnett ' sf a rms , an d r efu sed t o d i sp er se ; a t l as t , a f t e r n g oo d d en l o fsharp laoguage from Mr. Bennet t , they threw stones nt him.At th e same time a tro op of yeomanry from Hindon cnme np ondrece i v ed o rd er s t o f i r e b l an k car t r i d g es ab o ve t h e h ead s oftlre mob. This only produced la ugh ter ; th e yeomanry then bc-g an t o ch arg e ; t h e mob t o o k sh e l t e r i n t h e p l n n t a t i o n s rou ndPyt House and stoned th e yeomanry, who re pll ed by a fie rc eonslaught , shoot ing one mnn dead on the spo t , wounding six bycut t ing off Clngers and opening skul l s , and taking n grcntnumber of prisoners. 1 9

As hopeless a s th is s or t of popular ngl t at ion may seem, i t nctrrnlly 11nd measure of success. A s E . J . Hobsbnwm st a te s i t . "The day-lnborers auc-ceeded t o a l a rg e d eg ree i n d es t ro y i n g t h e macl r i n e~ond ncl~ieviogwngc


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rai ses and o ther improvements , and they held onto the ir ga ins fo r somey ear s , mo s t ly b ecause th e u n ex pec ted s ig h t o f th e i r mass iv e f o r ce . . . i n-s t i l l e d a s a lu ta r y f ea r in th e r u r a l g en t r y an d fa r m o wn er s. " tO Of co u r se ,th i s w as o n ly a d e lay in g ac t io n ; th e r eac t io n ar y f o rms o f r u r a l p r o t es t d i dnot l as t much longer , mechanized f a r min g d ld win o u t , and mi l l i o n s o f ag r i -cu l tu r a l w o r ker s ev en tu a l ly le f t th e land . N ev er th e less , i n th e co n tex tthe ac tio ns of 1830 had a l ogi c poor ly conveyed by words li ke " r io t " and

" p r o tes t . "The same may be sai d of th e handloom weavers, whose nineteenth-cen-

tu r y r eb e l l io n s s t i r r ed t h e co i ln t ry s id e in mo st s ec t io n s o f Eu ro pe . Whatwe loosely c al l Luddism took the form of a well-concer te d avenging act ion .Ned Ludd, t he mythi cal enemy of shea ring -fra mes and power-looms, who in1 8 1 1 and 1 8 12 i s su ed t h r ea t s and man i f es to s f r o m h i s r e t r ea t in herw woodF o r es t , had much in common wit h Capta in Swing, the eq udl ly mythic al l ea de rin whose name the ag rar i an r ebel s of 1830 wrote th ei r warnings. Here i s aL u d d i t e l e t t e r :

W w i l l n ev er la y down Arms ( t i l l ) The House of Commonspasses an Act t o put down al l Machinery hur tfu l t o Common-al it y , and repea l that t o hang Frame Breakers . But WeW p et i t io n n o mo re- -th at w o n ' t d o - - f igh t in g mu st .

Signed by th e General of th e Army of Redre ssersNedd Ludd Cl er k

Rcdressers for ever Amen. 21The Army of Redres sers, they cal le d themsel ves. The ir pseudonym epit omiz esth e d e f en s iv e , in d ig n an t , f o cu sed , r u le -b ou nd ch ar ac t e r of t h e i r r eb e l l io n ."Luddism," any8 E.P. Thompson, " mus t b e s e e n a s a r i s i n g a t t h e c r i s i s - p o i n ti n t h e a b r o ga t i o n of p a t e r n a l i s t l e g i s l a t i o n , a nd i n t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f t h e

p o l i t i c a l econ omy o f la i s s ez f a i r e up on , an d ag a in s t th e w i l l and coo f , th e w o rk ing F ar f ro m r eac t i n g I n a imles s co n f u s ion . Luddi tes, and most of t he European machine -breakers, knew what they wdoing. While the food r i o t and machine-breaking were qui te d is t in ct f or m and co n ten t , th ey sh ar ed th e s ame so r t o f c r u d e r s t i o n s l i t y .

Much of t he popular pro t es t which took p lace dur in g the I t al iaRiso rg imento h as th i s r eac t io n ar y c h ar ac t e r . D ur in g th e 1 8 50 s th e r e

s c a t t e r e d s t r i k e s i n t h e I n d u s t r i a l c e n t e r s a nd a fe w r e v o l t s o f a mod er n v a r i e ty in c i t i e s l ik e M i lan, L iv o r n o , an d Ceno a . Bu t mo s t d i s t u r b a n c e s t o ok t h e f a m i l i a r f o rm o f t h e f oo d r l o t , o r c o n s i s t e d o ccu p az ion i d e l l e t e r r e - - maas sq u a t t i n g on lan d s f o r mer ly h e ld in coa s a means of demanding their distribution i n c o mp e n sa t i o n f o r l o s tin th e co mo n s . Even a s Ca r i b l d i marchad up th e p en in su la o n h i s u n i f y i ng I t a l y , S i c i l i a n s we r e a t t a c k i n g t a x c o l l e c t o r s a nd o c cu py icommons. A t t imes , v i l l ag er s in th e S o u th sh o u ted "Down w i th th e Ctution ." "Down wi th the Nation ," "Long l iv e the Kingw--a se t of cr ir ec a l l s th e mu ch o ld er mo t i f o f F ren ch tax r eb e l l io n s , " Vive le r o yg ab e l le . "

By t h i s t i m e , a r a L he r d i f f e r e n t ( a n d , t o u s , m or e f a m i l i a r )c o l l e c t i v e v i o le n c e h ad be en t a k i n g sh a pe i n t h e c i t i e s o f I t a l y , ab ee n i n m o st c i t i e s of E u ro pe . T h e r e , p o l i t i c a l c l u b s , s e c r e t s o c ia n d w o rk e r s' o r g a n i z a t i o n s we r e o r ga n i z i n g c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n t h ro ugd emo n s t r a t io n s , b an q u e ts , mee t in g s , an d ml l i t a r y co u p s. Th e mo st asec t io n s o f th e co u n t r y s id e w er e a l s o b e in g dr awn in to th ese n ewer ac t io n . A l th ou g h th ey w ere n o t in t r in s ic a l l y v io len t in th emse lvesnew pol1 ic a 1 and economic forms became inc rea sing ly impor tant co$tec o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n c e .

~ h ; n nd how fa st th is happened var ied f rom countr y t o countr


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i t happened almost everywhere. The numerous dis turba nces which occurre d inFrance a t t h e mi d d l e o f t h e n i n e t een t h cen t u ry were mix ed i n ch arac t er . Theg rea t b u l k o f t hem f i t t h e s t an d ard r eac t i o n ar y mod els : ta x rebellions,food r l ot s, mechine-breaking, and so on. The 1848 Revolution n o t wl t h s t an d -ing, s t r ik es , demonst r at ions, and revolut iona ry movements produced only asmal l sh are o f t h e co l l ec t i v e v i o l en ce . The v i o l en t d i s t u rb an ces o f t h e i1930s, by c o n l m s t , g re w al m o s t e n t i r e l y o u t o f o r g a n i z ed s t r i k e s a n d

. Idemonst rat ions; wi th th e important except ion of t l ie Resistance during the second 'World War, t he 1940s ,and 1950s brought l i t t l e change in t hi s res pect . in betweentlie 1840s and t h e 1 9 4 0s a p ro fo u nd t r an s fo rmat i o n o f t h e ch arac t er o f co l l ec t i v eviolence took place. Even in tlie mid-nineteenth cen tury , a growing mino rity ofco nfl ic ts involved more complex and durable organiza t ion, more exp l ic i t and i

ifar-reaching objec t ives , a forward-looking perspec t ive. After 1848, thes e very ,r ap i d l y b ecame t h e p r ev ai l i n g ch ara c t e r i s t i cs o f t h e ev en t s p rod u cin g co l l e c t i v eviolence.

In t h e p ro cess , so l i d c i t i z en s an d n a t i o n al l ead e r s 'develo ped an acu t efe ar of tlie masses and organized a whole se t of new means fo r maintaing pu blico rd er . T he e l i t e f e a r ed t h e o rd i n ary p eo pl e o f co u n t ry an d c i t y a l i k e , a l t h o u g ht h ey co n cen tr a t ed t h e i r e f fo r t s a t crowd co n t ro l i n t h e c i t i es where t h eythemselves spent most of th ei r t ime. I t was tru e in England. Looking backCrom th e 18608, nov el is t and pamphleteer Char les Kingsley wrote:

From t h e mi d dl e ag es , u p t o t h e l a t t e r y ear s o f , t h e F ren ch war , t h ere la t io n between th e Engl ish gent ry and th e labour ers seems to havebeen more cord ia l and wholesome then in any other country of Europe.But with t he French Revolution came a change fo r th e worse. The Revolutionter r j f ie d too many of th e upper , and exci ted too many of t he lower classes ;and the ster n Tory system of repre ssion, wi th i t s bad habi t of talkin gnrid act ing as i f " the government" and "the pcople" were necess ar i l y i n

antagonism, caused ever-increasing bad blood. Besides, the old feut i es b e t ween c l ass and c l as s , employer and employed, had been sev ereLarge masses of working people had gathered i n the manufactur ing diin sava ge independence. The agr icu l tu ral l abou rers had been debasethe abuses of the old Poor-law int o a condi t io n upon which one looknow wi th hal f- incredulous horror . Meanwhile, the di st re ss of the lbecame more and more se ver e. Then ar os e Luddit e mobs, meal mobs. fr i ot s, r i o t s everywhere; Captain Swing and his r ickburnera , Peter lo"massacres , " B r i s t o l co n f l ag ra t i o n s , an d a l l the ugly s igh ts and ruwhich made young lad s, th i r ty or fo r ty year s ago, bel ie ve (and not wrongly) that " the masses" were thei r natu ral enemies, and that themight have to f igh t , an y y ear . o r any d ay , f o r t h e sa f e t y o f t h e i r and t h e h on ou r of t h e i r s i s t e r s . 23

Kingsley's pronouncement i s bad his tory and worse explanat ion . But i t s ta popular theory wi th ext raordinar y force. Englishmen and other Europeanthe t ime developed e se t o f b e l i e f s whi ch o r e s t i l l widesprend todny; theequate the "working cla sse s" wi th th e "dangerous clas ses" and argue thntmisery, cr ime, pe rsonal disor ganiz at ion and rebel l ion sprang Crom npproxithe same causes and occurred in approximately th e same segments of the poThe causes were the breakdown of t r ad i t i on al so cia l arrangements, t h e d esbrought on by ext reme poverty , and the demoral izing overpopulat ion of theg r e a t c i t i e s .

A llnlql~eess ay con tes t run hy King Maxinil ion of nnvnrin in 1848 pduced hundreds of [ear ful stateme nts f rom middle-class Germans concerningr i s e o f o v er p op u la t io n , m e ch a ni z at io n , a nd i m m ~ r n l i t y . ~ ~t m a t t e r s l i t tmany o f t h e an a l y ses ( fo r ex amp le , t h o se a t t r i b u t i n g t h e g rowt h o f t h e ~p o p u la t i o n t o t h e i n c r ease i n i l l eg i t i mac y ) were wi l d l y mis t aken . The Fwas ther e. And in France:


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On the bourgeois opinion of the t ime, we can take the work ofBalzac as t he most remarkable piece of evidence . above a l l be-cause i t bears t he marks of thes e two fac ts: on the one handthe blending of t he working c las ses and the dangerous c laf ises,the pro le t ar i a t and the underworld, misery and cr ime; on theothe r hand, the div isi on between two categor ies of the popu-l a t i on , t ha t da i l y se t t l e m e n t o f d i f f e r e nc e s o f whi ch c r i mi -n a l i t y is a n e xp re ss i on , a nd t ha t spo ra d i c se t t l e m e nt o f d i f -f e r e nc e s of wh ic h r i o t s a nd r e vo l u t i on a r e t he e sp re sa i on . 25

In response, some French, Germans, and Englis h organized in qu ir ie s int o pov-c r t y : o t l ~ e r s r g an i ze d p o l i c e f o r c e s .

F o r s e v e r a l c e n t u r i e s b e f o r e t h i s t i me , t h e c e n t r a l t a s k o f t h eEuropean pol ice had heen con tro l of the gra in t ra de , mar kets, and, bye x t e ns i on , pub l i c asse m bl i e s . T he no t i on o f a p ro fe ss i ona l o rga n i z a t i onde vo t ed m a i nl y t o t he de t e c t i on a nd a ppre he ns i on o f c r i m i n a l s t ook ho l d i nt he n i nc t e e n t h c e n t u ry . nu t be fo re t ha t p ro fe ss i ona l i sm de ve l oped , t heE uropea n s t a t e s we re e xpa ndi ng a nd r e o rga n i z i ng t h e i r po l i c e fo rc e s ve rylarge ly as a means of dea l ing wi th the new thr eat s from "the masses." Thenew pol ice began to re place both t he army and those older r epres sive force swhich had been fa i r ly wel l matched to the pri mi t iv e and react io nary formso f c o l l c c t i v e v l o le n c e: t h e lo c a l m i l i t i a s , p a r t- t i me c o n s t a b u l a r i e s ,the personal employees of Jus t ic es of the peace . S i r R o be r t P e e l ' s o r g a ni -zat ion of th e London metr opol itan pol ice i n 1829 (which immortaliz ed him bytra nsf err ing h is nickname "Bobby" t o t he po l i c e o f f i c e r s t he m se l ves ) had t hewel l -recognized du al purpose of pu t t ing as ide thugs and put t i ng downr e b e l l io n s . I t is e ven c l e a re r t ha t t he se t t i n g up of a na t i onwi deprovincia l po l ice by the Rural Pol ice Act of 1839 "was prec ipi ta t ed by the

re l i e ve t he m i l i t a r y o f a p re s su re wh i ch was i n t he h i ghe s t de g re e i ncv en ie nt and i n j ~ r i o u s . " ~ ~

E uropea n po l i c e f o rc e s o f t he pe r i od a c qu i r e d g re a t po l i t i c a li m por t anc e , no t on l y a s a ge n t s o f c rowd c on t ro l , bu t a l so a s t he o rg a nof po l i t l c a l e sp i ona ge v i a net works o f sp i e s a nd i n fo rm ers . T he i r r e oz a t i on t h roughou t E urope i n t he e a r l y n i ne t e e n t h c e n t u ry m rke d a v i c to f t he na t i ona l ove r t he l oc a l , a na t i ona l i z a t i on o f r e p re ss i ve fo rc e s

Aka n S i l v e r sa ys , "The po l i c e pe ne t r a t i on o f c i v i l soc i e t y . . . l a y nonly in i t s na r row a pp l i c a t i on t o c r im e a nd v l o l enc e . In a b roa de r sei t r e p re se n te d t he pe ne t r a t i on a nd c on t i nua l p re se nce of c e n t r a l po l i taut hor i ty throughout da i ly l i fe ."27 Al though the new pol ic e forces bmeans succeeded in e l imina Ling col lec t iv e o r individual violence ,f rome veryday l i f e , t he y d i d spee d t he de c l i n e o f t he o l de r fo rm s o f p ro t e sBy matching more complex and specia l iz ed organiz at ion of re pres sion tomore complex and spec ia l i zed org aniza t ion of the newer forms of p rot ethey probably even earned some of t he i r reput a t ion for st aving of fr e vo l u l l on .Modern Colle cti ve Violence

The modern v a r i e t i e s o f p o l i t i c a l d i s t ur b a nc e ( t o u se a n o t h ert e nden t i ous t e rm ) i nvo l ve spc c i a l i z e d a s soc i a t i ons wi t h r e l a t i ve l y we1de f i ne d obJe c t %ve s , o rga n i z e d fo r po l i t l c a l o r e conomi 'c a c t i on . Suchdisturban ces can eas i l y reach a larg e scale . Even more c le ar ly Lhan It he c a se of r e a c t i ona ry c o l l e c t i ve v i o l e nc e . t hey ha ve a t e nde ncy t o df rom c o l l e c t i ve a c t l on s wh ic h o f f e r a show o f fo rc e bu t a r e no t i n t r i nc a l l y v l o l e n t . T he de m ons tr a t i on a nd t he v i o l e n t s t r i ke a r e t he t woc l e a r e s t e x a n~ p l es ,bu t t he c oup a nd m os t fo rms o f gu e r r i l l a a l s o qua l iThese forms deserve t o be ca l led "modern" not only because of t he i r or

C h a r t i s t d i s t u r b a n ce s of t h a t y e a r a n d, i n p a r t i c u l a r , by t h e d e s i r e t o


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zat ion al complexi ty but a l so because the p art i c ip ants commonly regard them-se l ve s a s s t r i k i n g fo r r i gh t s due them , bu t no t ye t e n j oye d . They are,t h a t i s , forward-looking.

In England, the modern va rie t i es of col lec t iv e violence came int ot he i r own f a i r l y e a r l y . Jos eph Hamburger, whose gener al purpose is t or e fu t e t he no t i on t ha t E ng la nd c am e c l o se t o r e vo l u t i o n be fo re t he 1832Reform Ri l l , nevertheless describes some good-si red disturbances in 1831:

There were als o distu rban ces in London durl ng th e days imme-d i a t e l y a f t e r t he L ords ' r e j e c t i on o f t he B i l l . T he y m a in l yoccurred in connect ion wi th a procession t ha t was organized,with P la ce 's he lp, by two London Radic als. Bowyer and Powell.Organized by pari shes, people were to march to t he palaceand present an address in support of the B i l l to th e King.When i t took place on October 12, 300,000 perso ns were sai dto have taken part . The Home Secr eta ry inf ormed t he depu-t a t i ons t ha t t he King c oul d no t r e c ei ve t h e i r pe t i t i ons , bu tthey could present them through County Members. Hume re -ce ived some of them in St . James Square and la te r l e f t thema t the palace . The procession then marched past the palaceas a demonstra t ion of i t s s i z e a nd r e so l u t i on . It c ons i s t e dof ' shopkeepers and super ior ar t i sa ns ' ; ne vertheless, duringthe day there were a t tac ks on some Tory peers a s wel l as theusual broken windows. 28

Obviously. th e violence in t hi s case was minor, but th e ordcr and si ze ofthe demonstration was impressive. Much more so than i n th e case o r reac tion -a ry d i s t u rba nc e s , t he e x t e n t o f v i o l e nc e i n t h i s so r t o f e ve n t de pe nds he av -i l y on the react io ns of the demonstra tors ' oppondnts.

During the widespread Chart ist agi t a t i on of t he fol lowing two dccthe standard rout i ne involved a f i re-ea t i ng speech by a Chart ist l eader .fol lowed by a procession through the st r ee ts , spewing thre a ts and dispweapons. The threa ts, however, rar e ly came t o anything excep t when thc on f ron t e d t he Quee n ' s so l d i e r s . While once in a gr ea t while a membert he crowd f i r e d a t t he t roops , t he i r u sua l t a c t i c wa s t o s t one them: Preston, during the Plug-Plot distu rbanc es, a mob which had belaboureds o l d i e r s w i t h s t o n e s s t o o d i t s ground fo r a wh i l e when t h e o rde r t o f i rg i ve n a nd se ve ra l o f i t s members were st ruck , bu t the s hoot ing of a r l nleader , who had stepp ed out i n f r o n t o f t he mob t o e nc ourage h i s fo l l owt o c o n ti n u e t h e a s s a u l t , p u t a damper on the proceedings, and caused thcrowd t o d l ~ p c r s e . " . ~ ~ he Bri t i sh army and pol ic e soon developed eff eand large ly non-violent , methods of crowd contro l .

Despi te the development of eff ec t iv e pol ic in g, England s t i l l wip l e n t y of c o l l e c t i ve v i o l e nc e l a t e r i n t he c e n t u ry . T here was a wa ve o"ri ots " in London in 1866, another in 1886 and 1887: most of the se evc ons i s t i ng o f de m ons t r a t i ons wh i ch go t ou t o f ha nd . But t he r e a l r e suof t hi s form of violcnce came ear ly in the twe nt ie t h century, as : th e mFor temperance and (more impor tant ly) fo r woman's s uff rag e began to modetnons tration s in the cou rse of which the women showed unwonted deter mt i on : ". . . t iley smshecl windows, f i red pi l la r -boxe s, slash ed pic turthrew things a t M.P.s, and even burned down churches and houses; In repthey were tr eat ed with g re at roughness by policemen and worse by crowdT he y we re k i c ked a nd be a t e n ; t he i r ha i r was pu l l e d a nd t h e i r c l o t he s htor n of f; hat pin s were pusl~ed nt o them; th ey were knocked down and traupon." 30

1 1 wns a bout t h i s t i m e t ha t L i nc ol n S l e f f e ns he a rd E ng l i sh l e a d


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talkine, about Llle pos si bi l i ty of revolut ion. For three di f fe re nt movementswere swel l i n g an d co a l esc i n g i n t h e y ear s Ju s t b efo re Wo rl d War I: th edemand for womon's suff rage , huge (and sometimes insurr 'ec ionary ) s t r ik es ,and opposl t ion to war . A famous lea f l e t of the time cormnunicates some ofwhat was happening:

Yo u e re Workingmen'o Sons.When we go on S tr ik e t o be tte r Our lo t which is t h e l o t a l s o of

Your Fathers, Mothers. Brothers and Siste rs. You ar e cal led upon byyour Off ice rs to Murder U s .

Don't do i t . . . .Don't you know that when you ar e out of th e col our s, and becotue a

' ~ i v y ' g a i n , t h a t You, l i k e U s , may be on str ik e, and You, li ke U s , bel i ab l e t o b e Mu rd ered b y o t h er s o l d i er s .

Boys, Don't Do It .'Th ou sh a l t n o t k i l l , ' s ay s t h e B ook.Don't for get that1I t does not say, 'unless you have a uni form on. 'No1 Murder i s Murder.Think thing s out and ref use any long er t o Murder Your Kindred.

Help U s to win back Bri ta in f or the B ri t i sh and the World for th eWorkers. 31

Some of t hese movements ( l ik e the dr ive f or woman's suff rage ) succeede d;some ( l ik e the var ious demands of organized la bor) met a mixture of suc cessan d f a i l u r e ; an d some ( l i k e p ac i f i sm) f a i l ed u t t e r l y . England survived.B ut t h e e s s e n t i a l p o i n t is t h a t t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f or ms o f c o l l e c t i v ev i o l en cc accompany in^ those movements d i ff ere d fundamentnl ly from thosewhich had prevai led a cent ury before.

T he r i s e o f t h e s t r i k e a s a c o n t e x t f o r c o l l e c t i v e v i o le n c e f o ll o we d

a s i m i l a r rh y th m. Al th o ug h t h ey o f t en r ei mpo sed o n e r es t r i c t i o n o r an omo s t Eu ro p ean s t a t es l eg a l i zed t h e s t r i k e some t i me d u r i n g t h e n i n e t eencen tury : England in 1824, Saxony in 1861, Franc e in 1864, Belgium in 1Prus sia i n 1869, Aust r ia i n 1870, the Netherlands i n 1872. That did noh o wev er , mak e a l l su bseq u en t s t r i k e s p e~ ce fu l . Occas i o n al l y t h e v i o l enb eg an wh en t h e wo rker s t h emselv es a t t ac k ed a f a c~ o r y ,mine, o r manager'home. Somet imes the workers demonst rated, and the demonst rat ion turnedv i o l en t . More of te n t he vio lence Brew from a conf ronta t ion betweens t r i k e r s a s s em b le d a t a w o rk pl a ce a n d t r o op s , p o l l c e o r s t r i k e b r e a k e r s i n t o t h war t o r co n t ro l t hem.

l n trance. o c c a s io n a l s t r i k e s b r ok e o u t i n t h e b ig g e s t c i t i e s a se a r l y a s t h e s i x t e e n t h c e n tu r y . I n t h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e n in e t e en t hcen t u ry , sev er a l r o un d s o f s t r i k es - -n o t ab l y t h o se o f Lyo n i n 1 8 31 an d1834--bubbled up int o bloodl ,ly-represaed i nsu rre ct i ons . B ut t h e f i r s t o f s t r l k es ap p ro ach i n g a n a t i o n a l s ca l e came a t t h e en d o f t h e Seco ndEmpire, in 1869 and 1870. A major st r i ke movement swept the te xt i l e anmetal -working p lants, of Alsace i n Jul y, 1870, wi th Rome 20,000 workers in the vic ini ty of Mulhouse. Then:

Pcaccful parades took possesalon of the st r ee ts. YLrot thc cor-

penters : the evening of 4 J uly , 400 to 500 men 'walked t l l rough thc i t y , s i n gi n g , i n a n o r de r l y f a s h i on ' . And fo r th ree days th eprocess ions cont inued across th e ci t y , in groups, men, women, ch id ren , march i ng ' i n a f a i r l y d i sc i p l i n ed way . '3 2

Then the demo nstrat ions grew. In a number of towns. t he st r i ke rs kept thn o n s t r i k er s o u t by fo r ce . Eventual ly th e t roops came in , and the minor l en ce en ded . To t a l : a f ew i n j u r i e s , a l i t t l e p ro per t y damage, p erh ap s 7a r r e s t s .


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Not all strikes were so peaceful, however. During the same period,a number of mining strikes involved pitched battles between troops and demon-strators. In the course of a strike of 15,000 miners around St. Etienne inJune. 1869, the troops killed 13 and wounded another 9 members of a crowdwhich attacked them; this encounter went down in history as "the massacre ofLa ~icamarie." At Aubin (Aveyron), later in the year, the troops shot 30 to40 strikers trying to break into a metal-working plant. and managed to kil l14 of them on the spot. The point is not that people sometimes died in thecourse of these conflicts. It is that both the strikes involving trivialdomagc and those involving loss of life took essentially the same form.

The tremendous Paris Commune of 1871 broke the continuity of moderncollective violence to some extent. Its organization greatly resembled thatof earlier Parisian rebellions, and its leitmotifs--local control, communalautonomy, equolizstion of advantages--went against the prevailing nntional-ization of political conflict and the formation of special-interest associa-tions. But the break occurred as the Prussians marched through northernFrance, as the government f led, as the rest of the nation, in effect, secededfrom Paris. The break was short. With Paris tamed and the national govern-ment reinstalled, French people returned quickly t o the modern forms of vio-lent conflict.

Later on strlkes grew in amplitude and frequency. As they spre ad, they' became increasingly common contexts for collective violence. even though a de-

creasing proportion of all strikes were violent. After 1890, a number ofstrikes took on an insurrectionary cliarncter, with both the doctrine and thepractice of the general strike growing in importance. (It was at just thistime that Georges Sorcl, in his famous Reflections on Violence, placed the"myth of the general strike" at the center of revolutionary action.) And thecharacter of strike activity continued to change as the structure of labor

unions, the structure of industry, and the relations of labor managementgovernment all evolved. France's peak years for strike activity--1906. 20, 1936, 1947, 1968--have all been years of great soclnl conflict in otregards as well. Each of those crises marked a new stage in the scale asophistication of conflict.The Tranaitiun to W a r n Collective Violence

Unl ike the food r io t or the occup a~imi ,a l l t h i s i s t e r r l b ly f a mstu ff to the twentieth-century reader. ln it he sees the collect ive vof h i s o m e r a. The only reason for rwieving i t is to not ice the deedifferences i n character awn8 the primitive, reactionary and wde m foThey lend importancm t o the fac t t hat so many western countriea shif tedfrom one type to anoth er rppidly and decisi vely.

The nature, timing and cauaeo of these sh if to from one najor 'type. . . .colle ctive violence t o enother ar e complicated, cuntroverelel, and ver, .

from one count ry to another. Just ae complicated, cmtr over sin l and vi n f a c t , a s t he po l i t i c a l h i s t o r i e s o f European m t i o ~ . The transformof coll ect ive violence depended on transformations of no&iolent p oli tl i f e . Rather different pol iti cal s ystem emerged in diffe rent cornersEurope: communiet, ' soc ia l i s t , l ibera ldemocrat ic , corporat i s t . &cha spmewhat dif fer ent experience with col lec tiv e violence. Yet everyvhtwo thing. happened, and profoundly affecte d the cliaracta r of viole nt

The f i rs t vna the victory' of the national a ta t e wa r r iva l poverotoma, provinces and eatetes; p olit ico netionalized. h e econd was tpro life ratio n and ri se t o po li ti cal promhence of complex apccial-purpassoc ia t ione l ik e par t ies , f i rms, unions , c lubs and c r i m i ~ lyndicateThe tw trends generally reinforced each othcr. In aomo countries, hothe at ate gained power faste r and earl ie r than the organirati unal chanoccurred; Russia and '~ ran ce re caseo in point. In othere, the organi


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revolut i on came much clo ser t o the nat i onal iza t ion of po l i t ic s; Germany andI t a l y f i t t h a t p a t t e r n . I n e i t h e r c a s e , t h e t im e s o f o ve r l a p o f t h e tw ot r en d s p ro du ced t h e mos t d r amati c ch an g es i n t h e ch ara c t er o f co l l e c t i v eviolence.

Some o f t h e co n t r as t ap p ear s i n t ab u l a t i o n s o f v i o l en t ev en t s o ccu r r i n gi n F ran ce d ur i n g t h e t h r ee d ecad es f ro m 1 83 0 t o 1 8 6 0 and t h r ee l a t e r d ecadesfrom 1930 t o 1960.33 The r ep resen t a t i v e se t o f co n f l i c t s i n c l u d es 1.2 65ev en t s , i n v o l v i n g 3 ,0 15 fo rmat i on s (d i s t i n c t g ro up s t ak i n g p ar t i n t h e co l l ec-t i v e v i o l en ce) . The d i s t r i b u t i o n o v er t i me ap p ear s i n Tn b l e 1. Tlie figures

- Table 1 about here -show that France did not , by any means, become a peaceable n at ion as urba niza-t io n and indu st r ial iza t io n t ransformed her between 1830 and 1960. The twodecodes from 1850 to 1860 and 1940 to 1950 produced t he fewest vi olen t e vents;what a ctu al l y happened i s that during two ext remely repressive regimes (fol low-ing Louis Napoleon's 1851 coup and during th e German occupati on and Vichy gov-ernment of t he 1940s) ther e was almost no open large-sc ale violenc e. If wewere to omit the large , i f unsucc essful , re bel l ion which greete d Louis Napo-leon 's seiz ure oi' power, th e 1850s would look pret erna tura l ly calm. The largenumbers for the 1930s include th e fac tory occupat ions of 1936 and 1937. Evenwithout them the depressed th i r t i es would look l i ke t rouble d t imes. So wouldt h e p rosp erou s f i f t i es . I n boom and b u s t , t h e F ren ch co n t i n u e t o f i g h t .

W c a n lo o k a t t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f f o rm a t io n s t a ki n g p a r t i n t h e v io -l en t ev en t s I n Tah l e 2. The f i g u res sho w a d ec i d ed d ec l i n e i n t h e p ar t i c i p a-

- Tahlc 2 about hcrc -Lion of th e ordinnry, mlxcd crowd wi thout any wel l-def ined po l i t ic al or eco-nomic ide nt i ty , ond a compensat ing r i s e in t l ie par t ic ipa t io n of crowds labeledas st rpporters of par t ic ula r creeds and programs. W find no marked change int h e i n v o lv emen t o f r ep rcs s l v e fo r c es i n c o l l ec t i v e v i o l en ce , b u t see an i mpo r-

.,.t?J1&', *~&%&.3 .

-

t an t s h i f t o f t h e t ask of r ep ress i o n f rom mi l i t a ry fo r c es t o po l i ce . "r a l " g ro up s l i k e u ser s o f t h e same mark et (wh o were t y p i c a l p ar t i c i p an tfoo d r i o t s , i n v as i o n s o f f i e l d s an d o t h er smal l r eac t i o n ary d i s t u rb an ceappeared completely over the 130-year span.

Al t o g et h er , o u r t ab l e sho ws t h e r i se o f sp e c i a l i za t i o n an d organi n c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e n c e . J u s t a s i n d u st r y s h i f t e d i t s weight f rom the smsh o p t o t h e l a rg e f a c t o ry and p o p u l a ti o n ru shed f rom l i t t l e t own t o b i g

co l l e c t i v e v i o l en ce moved from th e normal congrega tions of th e communalwi t h i n whi ch p eo p le u sed t o l i v e mos t o f t h e i r l i v e s t o ward t h e d e l i b erf ro n t a t i o n s o f sp ec i a l -p u rp o se asso c i a t i o n s . C o l l ec t i v e v i o l en ce , l i k emany othe r fea ture s of so ci al l i fe , went f rom a communal basi s to nn ast i o n a l o n e .

As a consequence, the average siz e of inc iden ts went up. Toblesen ts measures of magni tude fo r the 1 .265 viol ent eve nts in t l ie sample.- Tab l e 3 ab o u t h er e - -f i g u res , o f co u r se , d es cr i b e t h e av erag e ev en t , n o t t h e t o t a l amou nt of lenc e a decade produced. They show a di st in ct r i se i n t l ie average numbp eo p l e t ak i ng p ar t i n a v i o l en t en co u n ter , d esp i t e a s t r o n g t en den cy foto narrow down to a singl e day. As the burden of repress ion shi f te d froarmy t o t h e p o l i ce . i n t e r es t i n g l y en ou g h, t h e u se o f w i d espread o r r e s t s cl in ed whi le the number of people hurt stayed about the same. Relat ive n umber o f p ar t i c i p a n t s , t h o t mean t so me d ec l i n e i n t h e av erag e d emo n ~ tchance of being ki l le d or wounded. The main message, once again , is t hl ec t i v e v i o l en ce p e r s i s t ed as F rn n ce b ecame an ad van ced i n d u s t r i a l n a t i othough the predominant forms of c ol l ec t iv e violenc e changed in fundamenways.

The twent ie th centur y f igu res f rom France include almost no pr imviolence. By the beginning of the century, the pr imi t ive forms had hee


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fading slowly through most of western Europe fo r t f i ree ce ntur ies o r more .In a t l e a s t som e c oun t r i e s , however , t he t r a n s i t i on f rom p re doml na nt l yreact ionary to predominant ly modern forms of co l le c t i ve violen ce occurredwi t h s t r i k i n g r a p i d i t y . In Eng la nd, t he r e a c t i ona t y fo rms we re a l r e a dy we llon t he i r way t o ob l i v i on by t he t i me o f t he l a s t g re a t a g ra r i a n r i s i ng , i n1830 , a l though t he y had p re va i l e d t h i r t y ye a r s be fo re. In Ge m ny , demon-s t r a t i on s a nd s t r i ke s see m t o have e s t a b l i sh e d t he m se l ve s a s t he usua lse t t i ngs f o r c o l l e c t l v e v i o l e nce ove r t he t wo de c ade s a f t e r t he Re vo lu t i onof 1848.

The si t uat ion was a b i t more complicated in I t a l y, because of thedeep divis ion between North and South. The t r ans i t i on to modem forms ofcollective violence appears to have been c lose to complet ion in t he Northa t u n i f l c a t i on . By the t ime of Milan ' s infamous f a t t i dl Maggio of 1898,in which a t le as t two pol icemen and e ight y demonstra tors died, the newerorganizn tlo nal forms unquestionably dominated the scene. In t he Sou t h ,mixed forms of the food r io t end tax reb el l i on were s t i l l a p p ea r i ng a t t h eend of the century. W i t h i n t en ye a r s a f t e r t ha t , howe ve r , e ve n i n ru ra la r e a s t he a g r i c u l t u ra l s t r i ke a nd t he o rga n iz e d pa r t i sa n m e e t i ng o r demon-st ra i011 had become the most regu lar prod ucers of vi olenc e on the lar ge rsc a l e .

Spa ln , a s u sua l , i a t he s i gn i f i c a n t e xc e p t i on : wh i l e t he c oun t ry a sa whole displays the long-run d ri f t f rom prim lt iv r t o reacLlonary t o modernfo rm s of c o l l e c t i ve \ . i ol e nc e , i t a l so d i sp l a ys a m a rvel ous a r r a y o f r e g re s -s l ons , m i x t u re s , a nd he s i t a t i ons . S u r el y t h e c o u n t ry ' s e r r a t i c i n d u s t r i a l i -zn tlon, uncertain, f l uc t un t i ng un i f l c a t Ion , a nd e xc e p t i ona l m i l i t n ry

i nvo l ve m en t i n po l i t l c s l i e be hi nd i t s d i f f e re n t i a t i on f rom the r e s t o fwe s t e rn Eueope i n t h i s r e spe c t . Spain, an Gerald Brenan says, "i s the o f t he pa t r i a c h i c a . Every vi l lage , every toun is t he c e n t r e o f a n i n ts o c i a l an d p o l i t i c a l l i f e . As i n c l a ss i c a l t i m es , a m an 's a l l e g i a nc e if i r s t o f a l l t o h i s n a t iv e p l ac e, o r t o h i s f a mi ly o r s o c i a l gr ou p i n iand only secondly t o hi s countr y and government . In what one may ca 11

I . normal condi t ion Spain i s a collection of sm a l l , m u t ua l l y hos t i l e , o ri nd i f f e r e n t r e pub l i c s he l d t oge t he r i n a l oose f e de ra t i on . . . . Ins t eof a slow bui lding-up of for ces such as one sees in other European nat it h e r e h as b ee n a n a l t e r n a t i o n b et we en t h e p e t ty q u a r r e l s o f t r i b l l i f egre at upsurges of energy th at come, economically speaking, from no~ her

Thus Spain becomes the except ion that proves- the rule . For t he says the sh i f t f rom predominant ly react iona ry to predomlnant ly modern fof coi l ec t ive violen ce accompanies the more or le ss durable vic t ory of nat ion al s ta te and the nat i onal economy over the part icular isms of the In Spain, th at vic t ory was not durable , and the forms of violence~waver

The prec ise t lmlng and ext ent of the sh i f t f rom react io nary t o mforms o f c o l l e c t i v e v i o l e nce i n t he se c oun t r i e s r e ma ins t o be e s i a b l i sheFor France, i t i s f a i r l y c l e a r t ha t t he sh i f t wa s ba re l y s t a r t e d by 184but cl ose t o complete by 1860. Furthermore , France experienced great , anearly simul taneous, o utbreaks of both forms of col l cc t lve violence i n years from 1846 through 1851. The well-known eve nts we custo mor ily lumtoget her a s the Revolution of 1848 and the less-known b ut enormous ins urt ion of 1851 stand ou t both for t hei r magni tude and for t he i r mixture ofreact i onary and modern disturbances, but they came In the company of suc


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n o t ab l e o u t b reak s as t h e wi d esp read fo o d r i o t s o f 1846-47, t he Forty-F iveCentime Revolt of 1848-49, and the uns ucc ess ful coup of 1849.

If t h i s acco u n t o f t h e t r an s i t i o n f rom r eac t i o n ary t o mod ern co l l e c-t i v e v i o l en ce i n wes t ern Eu ro pe i s c o r r e c t , i t h as so me i n t r i g u i n g f ea t u r es .F i r s t , t h e t i mi ng o f t h e t r an s i t i o n cor r esp o n d s ro u g h ly t o t h e t i mi n g ofi n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n an d u rb an iza t i o n- -En g lan d ear l y , l t a l y l a t e , an d so o n.Fu r t hermo re , t h e mo s t r ap i d p hase o f t h e t r an s i t i o n seems t o o ccu r t o g e t h erwi t h a g r ea t acce l e r a t i o n o f i n d u s t r i a l an d u rb an g ro wt h, ear l y , i

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Tilly Collective Violence