Nathaniel M. Smith, a doctoral student at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., will discuss “Uncivil Society: Right Wing Activism in Japan and the Politics of Futility” Sept. 28 at UMSL.

Right-wing activism in contemporary Japan is characterized by confrontational politics, motivated by religious zeal and steeped in underworld criminality, according to sociocultural anthropologist Nathaniel M. Smith.

Smith, a doctoral student at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., will discuss “Uncivil Society: Right Wing Activism in Japan and the Politics of Futility” at 5 p.m. Sept. 28 in Room 331 Social Sciences & Business Building at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

The lecture will explore Japan’s right-wing groups. Smith will discuss the practices of rightists who spew political invectives to citizens with megaphones outside of train stations or take part in gruesome practices of ritual self-mutilation and send their severed fingers to politicians and ambassadors in order to send a message. Although these alienating acts relegate them to the dysfunctional margins of civil society, this is what sustains their activism.

Smith has been selected for a two-year postdoctoral position at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California in Santa Barbara. His research interests include international music subcultures, bicycle craftsmen and the history of anthropology.

The event is free and open to the public. It’s sponsored by the Ei’ichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Professorship in Japanese Studies at UMSL, Center for International Studies at UMSL and Japan America Society of St. Louis.

A parking permit is required for all visitors to UMSL. To request your free permit, a campus map and to make a reservation, call 314-516-7299 or visit cfis-umsl.com.