Zengakuren
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1948, Zengakuren is a communist / anarchist league of students in Japan
. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement, the Peace Treaty
Movement, and opposition to the Korean War
in its first stage.
Although the association was formally organized on September 18, 1948, political movements among Japanese college students can be traced back to much earlier times . While most writers recognize that the student political movement began hand in hand with the spreading labor movement after the First World War , some writers say that this movement is as old as Japanese higher institutions.
In 1960, the league became divided after activities concerning the revision of the Japan-US Security Treaty. Five separate organizations emerged under the name Zengakuren, the most famous being the Sagadaigaku Gakusei Jitikai Ren.
Throughout the 1960s, Zengakuren organizations held protests against the U.S. invasion of Vietnam. In one notable case, President Eisenhower had planned to visit Japan during a 1960 tour of Asia, but so many Zengakuren turned out to protest at the airport that he decided not to land.
The Zengakuren are discussed by French philosopher Roland Barthes
in L’empire des Signes (Empire of Signs) in a section entitled ‘The Writing of Violence.’ Barthes explains:
But in contrast, according to Barthes, the violence of the Zengakuren 'is immediately a sign': expressing nothing' . This violence is intransitive, concerned with creating 'a great scenario of signs', and exhausting itself in its immediate expression .
In 2010 and 2011, Zengakuren groups organized massive rallies and peaceful protests in major cities in Japan.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The word is an abridgement of which literally means “All-Japan League of Student Self-Government.” Notable for organizing protests and marches, Zengakuren has been involved in Japan’s Anti-Red Purge Movement, the Peace Treaty
Peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
Movement, and opposition to the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in its first stage.
Although the association was formally organized on September 18, 1948, political movements among Japanese college students can be traced back to much earlier times . While most writers recognize that the student political movement began hand in hand with the spreading labor movement after the First World War , some writers say that this movement is as old as Japanese higher institutions.
In 1960, the league became divided after activities concerning the revision of the Japan-US Security Treaty. Five separate organizations emerged under the name Zengakuren, the most famous being the Sagadaigaku Gakusei Jitikai Ren.
Throughout the 1960s, Zengakuren organizations held protests against the U.S. invasion of Vietnam. In one notable case, President Eisenhower had planned to visit Japan during a 1960 tour of Asia, but so many Zengakuren turned out to protest at the airport that he decided not to land.
The Zengakuren are discussed by French philosopher Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
in L’empire des Signes (Empire of Signs) in a section entitled ‘The Writing of Violence.’ Barthes explains:
In our [western] mythology, violence is caught up in the same prejudice as literature or art: we can attribute to it no other function than that of expressing a content, an inwardness, a nature, of which it is the primary, savage, asystematic language...
But in contrast, according to Barthes, the violence of the Zengakuren 'is immediately a sign': expressing nothing' . This violence is intransitive, concerned with creating 'a great scenario of signs', and exhausting itself in its immediate expression .
In 2010 and 2011, Zengakuren groups organized massive rallies and peaceful protests in major cities in Japan.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese) Japanese Communist PartyJapanese Communist PartyThe Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
- Democratic Youth League of JapanDemocratic Youth League of JapanDemocratic Youth League of Japan is a political youth movement in Japan.DYLJ is the youth wing of the Japanese Communist Party and a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth....
faction - Official website (in Japanese) Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Chukakuha) faction
- Official website (in Japanese) Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist faction)Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction)The Japan Revolutionary Communist League is a Japanese Trotskyist revolutionary group, often referred to as Kakumaru-ha.The group's origins lie in splits from the Japanese Communist Party following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956...
faction - Official website (in Japanese) Sagadaigaku Gakusei Jitikai Renfaction