The Phenomenon and Theories of Revolutions

The present chapter offers a general understanding of the development of ideas and theories of revolution. It provides a survey of views on revolutions over the last two centuries. It also analyses the transformations of revolutions proper, and of views on them, from the end of the twentieth century through the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Goldstone et al. offer a deep analysis of four generations of the modern study of revolutions. Special attention is paid to the third generation of theories, which emerged in the late twentieth century. These scholars contributed new approaches to: (1) the role of the state; (2) international factors; (3) the role of the army; (4) the role of elites; and (5) the particular historical conditions under which revolutions and revolutionary transformations occurred. The authors also describe how since 2000 a new—a fourth—generation of theories of revolutions has been forming. This approach is associated with the study of the color revolutions and the Arab Spring, and so fully incorporates non-violent revolutions. It also returns to explicit consideration of the World System and its development, and focuses on the changing features, characteristics, and historical meaning/role of revolutions and how they are connected with world-system and historical processes.