Vigilantism as Political Violence. A Typology

Abstract

Vigilantism is usually perceived as a form of political violence. But we can distinguish three types of vigilantism with respect to its relation to the state: a) vigilantism in place of the state, b) vigilantism as a better state, and c) vigilantism beyond the state. I shall show that the relation between vigilantes and the state is thus not always oppositional, and that the political dimension of vigilante actions in fact varies considerably.