2007/02/01 by Sho Konishi · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Anarchism and Radical Politics #Japanese History and Culture #Chinese history and philosophy #Civilization #Historiography #Modernity #Meaning (existential) #Narrative #Politics #Western culture #History #Aesthetics #Sociology #Political science #Law #Literature #Epistemology #Philosophy #Art
paper · doi:10.1086/ahr.112.1.101
openalex publication_date 2007/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In the spring of 1874, the Russian populist and international revolutionary leader Lev Mechnikov (1838–1888) sailed to Japan in order to observe and participate in the Meiji Ishin, commonly known in English as the “Meiji Restoration.”1 Japan was still in the throes of disorder and conflict as he disembarked in Yokohama. Comparing the Ishin to revolutionary movements in Europe, Mechnikov called it “a complete and radical revolution, the kind we know only from history.”2 Seeking to right a common misunderstanding among many in the West about the causes of the Ishin, he described it as being of native origin. He argued that the Ishin was not simply a political reaction to external pressure on Japan to adopt Western civilization and become involved in capitalist development. Rather, it was a complex revolution from within, based on centuries of social, cultural, and intellectual developments, that had merely been given further impetus by disturbances from abroad. Mechnikov would eventually accord the Ishin global significance for human progress in a different direction altogether from Western modernity. Historians have rarely questioned one aspect of the birth of modern Japan: the “Opening of the Nation” to the West, or kaikoku, and the resulting initiation of civilization and progress. As a result, the meaning of kaikoku has been closed, and alternative narratives of modern Japanese history have essentially been precluded from the historiography on Japan. By exploring Mechnikov's private encounter with Ishin Japan on the non-state level beyond the imagined East-West divide, it may be possible to reopen the meaning of kaikoku and introduce the larger associated vision of cooperatist anarchist civilization and progress.3 At the very moment that Japan's borders opened to negotiation with the West and to the concomitant narratives of civilizational progress, they opened as well to alternative visions of progress. Mechnikov would give Japan's modern revolution world-historical meaning as a major catalyst for the advancement of humanity based on the principles of cooperatist anarchy. The resulting idea of progress would emphasize cooperation between people over Social Darwinist competition, and spontaneous free associations of peoples over the rule of law and state governance, as fundamental for the advancement of human life. It would be based on the premise that individual and group differences on multiple levels constituted an essential basis for a cooperative human society, making possible a modern subjectivity that simultaneously incorporated both the individual and the collective. Mechnikov's encounter with Ishin Japan led him to refashion anarchism, transforming it from a Bakuninist ideology of primordial and violent destruction of the existing social and political structures into an evolutionary construct for developing a civilization on the basis of mutual aid.4 Mechnikov identified a dynamic model of civilizational progress in Japan that transcended the provincially bounded idea of the Russian commune. He was struck by the cooperative self-organization he observed among commoners the the people to have and social in a they political a of from and to Mechnikov the of and in to the larger society, with in of Japanese called for the of He observed that the of mutual had the to beyond the of the the and the and was by an to from and with the he on many levels of Mechnikov as essential for the advancement of The developing vision of progress and civilization by the encounter between the Japanese of and Russian populist of would one of the intellectual for a of modern only Mechnikov's encounter with to the and of the given to the of modern the alternative given to for further Japanese would the vision of cooperatist progress into one of the for modern in Japan. it the the and the of and the idea of imagined and into anarchist a that transcended and of modern of Japanese as a of Western intellectual has to from cooperatist as a of in Japan. have the of state and as the of human progress and By the history of has as an intellectual and of the social of the and associated it with and the of Japanese historiography has in Japan as a the Western civilizational an with and and by the to both of the that anarchism, by or in was to modernity. The idea of Western the from we have of on modern Japan. existing of an Japanese have to Japanese and Western into or as the of the for the that the of in of the of alternative of in the have to of between an between the and the The in the have as the or of major modern by the West and as the and political on to the it has to the of a cooperatist anarchist vision of human progress and civilization the of and from a we have the modern between and Japan from the of with the Russian to Japan in led by The of the to the of by the Japan's and into the Western international of a the of Western as essentially the meaning and in the history of of that have been from the of Western modernity. the we have the to the we have Western as the for international history modern Japan. making an to the of has led the to the in the of and have to of from a non-state have been the of on Japan a larger and of The not to a of the and history of Rather, the of that on the non-state beyond the construct of the encounter between West and to a to the of Japan. As as the revolutionary encounter was to the of international of Western it with an alternative to kaikoku as a moment of it meaning and the of Western and in Japan the Ishin that modern Japan birth to the of the Western observed the the of in Japan and the Western that he described the progress that to Japan as an he the of capitalist as the of that progress. was one of the very to Japan in the of described in the of to Japan in the of the to a of peoples based on level of in and a modern progress by a for in the international the Ishin that Japan would beyond a or the as a major for Japan's to international they to be and in The idea that an in from the was a of with by Russian and with of and and private and a vision of Western civilization and progress that of and and and In Mechnikov meaning to the intellectual of the He of the Ishin as the of social and that in Japan. As had been involved in revolutionary movements Europe, Mechnikov was to the Ishin the moment of with radical movements in the with the in led him to it and to an of with Ishin and intellectual in Japan. He further in of in the Japanese in Japanese he to Mechnikov and by to from the and of the he based of Ishin Japan on as a private essentially a to Japan and Mechnikov's Ishin was both in Russian radical and by the of in Japan had as as Western of the Ishin to the and from they Mechnikov's Mechnikov had been in the larger of a radical Russian political of the to the state of political in the Russian political in a for the populist Mechnikov a in of He as the of the and as an of many beyond the Russian in the and he in or revolutionary movements and in and In he and was as a in for with the the social had Mechnikov to was in Mechnikov the of the in in the to intellectual in he and an from into Russian with from the Mechnikov's in and in a by the He a of to further to the the Russian as as possible of The larger of Russian that Mechnikov to questioned the of civilizational progress in the the of a Europe, Russian that the revolutionary in the West was of an and free had the for a social order with the of the in the violent of the the that of was and for a revolution social and had a of the of a revolution in of Western Europe, a order and a to rule over it in over centuries of development. The with not in the of the Russian to be in the of to Mechnikov's of with the revolutionary in the of with the in Mechnikov described the of the by a of a to and the from of Russian the and and the and Mechnikov's a of Russian revolutionary in revolution was a had become a with Russian by the the of a revolutionary of a by in the associated with the Russian to a for and The Russian in was a that had been by with in native The to revolution in be the Russian as an of alternative for the populist it would be in Ishin with radical to and from that Mechnikov would a for cooperatist anarchist human progress that transcended the of in he would the of the Russian as a model for Mechnikov in the the revolution in Japan both a and a alternative to the of He to the in Japan with The had and over Europe, in the with an had been to of as an of and Japan and with to the of Japan the Ishin described it as a modern revolution in a about the of in the Western as as as the progress that described Western in from to as a of civilization and progress and to social and in idea of the Russian in on the political from on of the Japanese and history and in Japan the Ishin, the as the of a of progress on in the West had only a the Ishin was not the violent of an the of a He that the order of Japanese not only had over centuries on was that of the Western he described the Japanese to Russian as among the and people in the with a in of of the populist in that Mechnikov an of Ishin Japan that would to the In a to he with and for a that a of life. In being a and one for to observe for would be to give a of the that Japan has in to a and well they would be for By the for progress from the West, Russian in the to the of and Japan as a of progress, the that the of between a and an modern West to Mechnikov's of with Japanese would to a of and in Japan. between the Russian revolutionary and Japanese a a between the of Ishin and of the Ishin as an of cooperative civilization would of revolutionary In the for Mechnikov had with a of revolutionary of the Ishin had been to to about the as a of in by and led Japanese to him as an and a populist Mechnikov's with the on an and He with Japanese in in of and He was given a private to to Japan to with a had become a leader in the Meiji Mechnikov was to would as and As of the was Mechnikov to with him in the in At the that he the to had been the Meiji on the as the that by the that had the of the revolution and by of the state the Meiji had the the of the In an to a of and among Japan's a in the to simultaneously and He the he was for in the Ishin to the The in was a between the and had in the revolutionary in that be to to a to the of the and to the to As an Mechnikov was to as of the as of to the of the in described as a populist revolutionary leader was one of the common He that had given to to the of the Meiji in order to adopt a to an of as an of to with Mechnikov's of revolutionary in and populist In from the Meiji Mechnikov in and the was would be to the of the in he led to the Meiji Mechnikov's Mechnikov would to revolutionary among as an of Russian the of a major for Russian As the for he a that history from and the Russian of and a that would be for by Russian to the Mechnikov's the an the that identified with as an of revolutionary to as from the state and an Mechnikov with people he described as of the Japanese of the and for social and political was Japan. a of Mechnikov's from in the would political the of the of with Mechnikov a was the leader of the of In private with the him with a of about As he would of of Ishin Japan on both and private with a of Japanese and from of life. of the Ishin would as from as from and Mechnikov described the Japanese to him in developing of Ishin Japan: and for the of with Japanese from a of the as a revolution from within, and him of the among many in in revolutionary for and cooperation on the and international In Mechnikov's idea of in the of Russian with the of the Ishin and was further by the of among had led or In the Russian would about the Russian revolutionary to the and Mechnikov the of the a of populist and political from on Russian in Japan in and with about the revolutionary in the in Japan was an of the Russian revolutionary by Mechnikov's that had been for involved with the in Japan. of would one of the of the the to the for in the Ishin with the revolutionary in with the of the Ishin by of a Russian revolutionary to given the a global meaning for human progress and In both the between Russian and Japanese and the resulting of was a that in the of the Meiji Ishin and the Russian revolutionary in the It beyond the imagined between a and and a and Mechnikov's in Japan an encounter with He about an of in the of Ishin with he had associated in had from and was the by complete of to Mechnikov of the he in he about the Ishin and Japanese history from and was not to him for he and in Japan. Mechnikov would be led to the Ishin as a and of and about meaning for Japan's of would with he as the social for a revolution from within, the of to be the of the of and by Japanese political Lev Mechnikov in of the of the Russian of Mechnikov's encounter with Ishin Japan that he identified with Ishin not as of as for revolutionary Mechnikov Japan's revolution as the West a model for radical social He observed the and social of structures and the of of social for the common He further that to had opened on a and of the as well as and the he not to be a complete and radical revolution, the kind we know only from history a of social and political has in Mechnikov's of the Japan that had led to the Ishin He that had the of and in Japanese He the of the Ishin as simply a with Mechnikov that the Ishin had of and and was only by the It was a from a to the for they would be with the of the The or from the had as the and the political order that with Mechnikov that the from a of and be identified by and He that they had a social and to give for the of as a The of the revolution to and not only the political the very social of Japanese The Ishin was not about a leader or a by as it was a social and political revolution with the and At the the revolution social Japan's on the of civilization was not an or a of Japanese about the Ishin, for Mechnikov as he called as a that the of intellectual over the of the It was the not of a between a and an he of Japan that had been for Mechnikov that political and social the common people to about direction from He that in Japan had a of social to that in of of was of the and had it and with and of in or had become in the among a they a to that on the basis of to and for the that Mechnikov in the an of and social He to that people not the and of with in for Mechnikov to have the of for the on Japan in on Mechnikov's the Ishin was the revolution of the social revolution was the of social and intellectual was further by the cooperative associations that he Japan. He of from as of an involved with mutual In Mechnikov the of cooperative in He observed that the Meiji to for the to the on to in from from cooperative associations in to for The of mutual that Mechnikov as to the revolutionary of modern Japan in intellectual as a in Ishin Japan was by to and to and from The of was not an of in to the of an of of Mechnikov described the of and as a cooperative a to from the and to with was for civilizational progress. He that was a that the as a for an of from to West to of as a model for Ishin Japan's an of in and intellectual in cooperative of Mechnikov's of the Ishin among Japanese from commoners to that of commoners that the Ishin was a revolution from that would for and a order that would among the idea of to have been among Japanese commoners the that Mechnikov was in Japan. commoners the history of political in on the that Mechnikov in they to the that the of was a from the Japanese commoners the of mutual to give meaning to the on international in by the meaning to the of the in the social by international as an of mutual The a by many in Japan the to the of international was a of that mutual as the or essential of human was to with they have a and to the of described as in mutual In a of the of international the of the The in the to from an Ishin called the one of the Ishin as an revolutionary with for the mutual as a to the of social of from one into Russian by Mechnikov and the into English by the they the of progress that Japan's and meaning to the Mechnikov mutual as a basis for Japan's of the Western model of on the the as that Japan had on a to the of capitalist as an of a law of progress. and Mechnikov to have to that as to the as only in of they very different on the meaning of be as a of the different that the one as has become of the of the of and has and with to be on a the only by we in the of and to principles of and to principles of and be only by the of and by in capitalist with the was to be the of and a to the Western model of the state as the of the of of the individual and the of private would in in Japan for and would become the in the state of the West the for and order in the international In of free of international law and of private the Western political model was the of or principles of and Mechnikov the has become of the to with only in we in the of from the of mutual and In free by of to the mutual and of In Mechnikov's for the involved only it to the of and mutual was to be and not simply a of the of Japan's to and the of the the the of kaikoku and Ishin that we still Mechnikov the of with the and the and meaning of in of the of with and Mechnikov to the Ishin as a revolutionary and model for developing vision of human The Ishin for him as an idea and of a cooperative society, and by of in opened the for on a global the of revolution was from social Mechnikov to in with an intellectual that would the to a a for a human He the of the revolution in Japan in and of for in and the and the of and and to the on Japan and in an on by the anarchist he as one of the in Mechnikov would an intellectual for the of one of the of modern anarchist In the and of in Social Darwinist for in the West as the among the of the for to the in a violent Western as the level of social progress for the of the as and At the was with and by in an to the to and of by the and of by Mechnikov the of to a vision of human evolutionary development. to anarchist have been in the history of the from of the revolution was for Mechnikov a anarchism, he a cooperatist anarchist civilization that would be and on a levels of civilization would be the of a cooperatist and social encounter with Ishin Mechnikov mutual as a law for civilizational progress In had that an would a on the basis of to the being had the right to rule the had in Mechnikov's of Ishin as the vision of the Mechnikov that the in in and in with The of a revolution on the on for for or political of the of Mechnikov to in life. about people to in that a cooperative of the human of was for Mechnikov the of progress for Social as merely the of into a of for Mechnikov and for in of Mechnikov was of a of Russian intellectual in the to the Darwinist of of the as the of was common among Russian that it a of reaction to Russian among was Lev Mechnikov's would on to the for of a law of evolutionary in the and that was not by and by At the of on was still to the of Lev the of cooperation in evolutionary among into of society, and civilizational It encounter with the revolutionary of Ishin Japan for him to an idea from the Russian into an anarchist law of human civilizational development. Mechnikov that the cooperative aspect of human by the The and that the the to the human of the for social cooperation in order to of the not individual or competition, in social cooperation to the Mechnikov a or for humanity not to people to and the of the law of progress and the law of the of human Mechnikov had observed in Japan that a to the of a major impetus for and social As he described the the into many different that was the different to the that the in one not be of the had to a political order that for had of In the and of the had the people to a cooperative and as a of modern civilizational was on to multiple and to multiple in an of and for mutual As a over the in mutual be was in the very of as cooperation the of and to be In Mechnikov's an individual of cooperation only by or of human the basis for on and social was not by from by for The individual with in the of the of individual was for He he the of of as by or a of civilizational development. In a for they the of the social human and of the of He the into of and with of The of and that be by law of The was by of the for and and incorporated the of and and in with law of the for Mechnikov further a of he It incorporated the of associations and the of beyond the of individual He as the of both human and to one in order of and of and In he as of complex and of cooperative associations and not as a or was being and in a of social life. cooperative for with and for the and of a of mutual in Japan had Mechnikov to a global for cooperatist civilizational development. essentially the from the West, and to had been the of The with to the of progress and in Japan to the Meiji Ishin on cooperative initiation of the of was a of Western Mechnikov By Mechnikov had the the West had a Mechnikov had by Ishin Japan as a model of revolutionary a based on of progress, be to level that by that different to the of cooperatist civilization not by human with In the of to a to cooperatist beyond primordial of and Mechnikov with the for a of of and history in the West the of the had to a order that Mechnikov to He of Social an among that a social order be the of a of Mechnikov beyond the of the different human as different in or in or in a was a had and to the of the the the of cooperative by the complex of different a in it was to and the of and In of to Mechnikov to the of that and was and with from of and with about the of Japanese Mechnikov identified people in Japan as being of he that the for in Japan was in with led to that the of have not from the from the to with and He was further struck by the and of that he He Japanese and the of and to that Japanese from multiple Mechnikov the of on was in with in social the and from has described as the of the among social in to of a to the to a social for The external by the state that the of society, of the or Mechnikov human to to an in human be he to human and a to for the He to the of and the of the and the of as for cooperative social development. idea be by that or from Japan in and a Mechnikov to and the and to further In and the Mechnikov and to the of human from cooperation among levels of mutual in the of free He observed that the of had been associated with human with as the both of and of and the for not competition, of and and complex and peoples as the Mechnikov they in mutual and a of human the to the on the and with the and of cooperative In was not a of human progress, it was a to progress for Mechnikov's construct of civilizational progress incorporated existing on a of social and as only one in the advancement of the complex cooperative human He history into major by a The the and and and the of was by The with the moment of the of and the of the and the fundamental of among The modern the with the of human Mechnikov the into the the of to the of in and of and the was to be the of human cooperation and given impetus by the the of the and the in among people on the non-state in Mechnikov had to of as an of the of free associations in the of international as the known of human Mechnikov to cultural, and by that the and social of a civilization to a on people to and social In a history that on the of of on human he the between and West, and possible the of free and cooperative associations in the West as The of intellectual was that the West was Japan. was a that a of and the global of In of social of mutual as a of progress for human Mechnikov the of and that had of and Social in Mechnikov's was in Russian intellectual and as in as the the of Russian and the anarchist it to the In the of the moment Russian radical from the populist in a Russian to the of by Russian Mechnikov had was by Mechnikov's idea of beyond the East-West and it to of history for the of in that of the fundamental intellectual of the the the of in progress a of the of on social In he about Mechnikov's to with or to It not that one of the only in the of of Russian Social was Mechnikov to the Mechnikov's that the a in the history of by a was the anarchist Mechnikov's in He Mechnikov's construct of cooperatist civilizational as a basis for anarchist of human progress. and to complete Mechnikov the very moment he to beyond of the order to a of the on a of he called of the Russian populist a that was by many in the Russian to to from Mechnikov's the was to to Mechnikov's in and on It was not a that simultaneously to anarchist was in in In it essentially Mechnikov in mutual as the of human progress and he the for among human as on mutual not competition, for he as a human of a based that incorporated a vision of civilizational would give in Japan a would the of Japanese in the of the making it a in intellectual life. in by for a and of cooperatist of had been a of to cooperatist has been the Japanese of and Western both as the of and as