ABSTRACT
How should we handle the concept of popular revolt? In earlier research, popular revolts have been considered a breach of a defined state of law, a threat to political and social order, and the application of illegal means, especially of violence. In more recent research, there has been a tendency to emphasize the difficulty of drawing a clear distinction between legal and illegal political actions. Several international studies have shown that the authorities to a certain degree accepted elements of violence in peasant protests as long as they did not represent a threat to the political and social order.
