Goldstone, Ch.1/2 What is a Revolution? Flashcards
Define the Heroic Vision of Revolution.
(promotes revolution as needed for freedom and dignity)
Downtrodden masses are raised by leaders who guide them in overthrowing unjust rulers, allowing the people to gain their freedom
GAINS FREEDOM, VIOLENCE IS NEEDED, supports revolution
Define the Chaotic View of Revolutions.
(rejects revolutions)
Revolutions are eruptions of popular anger that produce chaos: reformers unleash the mob and demand blood and create extreme violence that destroy the revolutionary leaders themselves
VIOLENCE IS EXCESSIVE AND UNNECESSARY
Promoted by English critics Edmund Burke, Thomas Carlyle, and Charles Dickens: individuals who feared the excess violence of the French revolution –CRITICS OF REVOLUTIONS
Define the three markers of revolution. (FMS)
Forcible change in government
Mass participation in whatever “rebellion” is at hand
Severe change in institutions
Define Structuralist Revolutionary Theory
Tends to ignore the “subjective” and extremely diverse side of revolutions and the way they are defined
Focuses on easily observed features of conflict and institutional change of revolutions, not motivation based on injustice
Criticims of Structuralist Revolutionary Theory.
the pursuit of social justice, which is subjective and diverse, is inseparable from how people define their revolutionary identities and therefore form and frame their actions
You need the subjective driving factors to understand revolution, not just the conflict and changes
Define revolution.
he FORCIBLE overthrow of the government through mass mobilization (whether military, civilian, or both) in the name of SOCIAL JUSTICE, to create new political institutions
Define rebellion.
any act by a group or individual that refuses to recognize, or seeks to overturn, the authority of the existing government (EFFORTS TO OVERTHROW A REGIME THAT FAIL ARE OFTEN TITLED AS REBELLIONS)
Define uprisings.
usually unarmed or primitively armed popular rebellions
Define insurrections.
involve some degree of military training and organization, as well as the use of military weapons and tactics
Define Guerrilla Warfare:
style of warfare used in rebellions and revolutions; does NOT rely on conventional fighters who are in large scale military units housed and supplied by military, RELIES ON SMALLER NUMBERS OF MOBILE FIGHTERS LIVING OFF LAND OR SUPPLIED BY LOCAL POPULATION
(small forces trying to expel a larger more powerful force by inflicting a steady stream of losses while avoiding pitched battles with the more powerful foe)
Define peasant revolts and their goal.
(NOT A REVOLUTION, NOT OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENT, MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE)
Uprising of rural villages; may aim at resisting the demands of local landlords, sometimes at rebelling against state agentS
CALL ATTENTION TO EXCEPTIONAL LOCAL HARDSHIPS
GOAL: to get help from the government to resolve local problems, NOT TO CHANGE the government itself
Define Grain Riots, and their goal.
(NOT A REVOLUTION, NOT OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENT, MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE)
Mass mobilizations to protest food shortages or excessively high prices
Involve seizures of grain shipments/stores, attacks on grain merchants
Distribute food to the poor and demands to enforce a maximum price or secure state subsidies; usually occur in cities
Define strikes and their goals.
(NOT A REVOLUTION, NOT OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENT, MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE)
Mobilization of workers to withhold work from employers
Focus on issues of pay, work hours, safety, and work regulations: PARTICULAR TO A REGION, INDUSTRY, OR CORPORATIONS
Define a political strike.
If workers across the state/nation/country have shared grievances against federal government policies, ALL workers may refuse to work
Define social movements and their goals.
NOT REVOLUTIONARY, NOT OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENT, MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE)
Mass mobilizations on behalf of particular groups or causes
Focus on discrimination/oppression of specific members of a group
Can be disruptive and provoke regime violence (anti-Vietnam war movements in the U.S)
Utilizes sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and occupations of state buildings or public places
GOAL: resolve the grievances of a particular group
Define reform movements and their goals.
(NOT REVOLUTIONARY, NOT OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENT, MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE)
EXPLICITLY SEEK TO CHANGE EXISTING GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
May seek new laws to limit corruption, greater autonomy for a region, or further voting rights
DO NOT attempt to overthrow the existing government
Try attain their goals by working through lawful procedures for institutional change: seek to win court rulings or electoral campaigns, pass new laws, or obtain constitutional changes
ONLY BECOME REVOLUTIONARY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT RESISTS OR DELAYS MEANINGFUL CHANGE AND LASHES OUT AT REFORMERS
Define Coup D’etat.
(NOT REVOLUTIONARY, BUT DOES RESULT IN THE OVERTHROW OF GOVERNMENT, NOT MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE PRINCIPLES)
“Blows to the state”
Occur when one authoritarian leader or a small group of leaders takes over the government, WITHOUT any large mass mobilization or civil struggle
Military coups against democracies or monarchies produce new political institutions
NOT MOTIVATED BY BROAD PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
GOAL: halt economic decay, restore order, and step down once this task is accomplished
When does a coup d’etat lead to revolution?
Only lead to revolutions if the coup leaders or their followers present a vision for reshaping the society on new principles of social justice and order: MUST ADD SOCIAL JUSTICE MOTIVATION
Define Radical Social Movements.
NOT REVOLUTIONARY, OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENT, NOT MOTIVATED BY SOCIAL JUSTICE)
Seek to forcibly overthrow the state: DO NOT BECOME REVOLUTIONS UNLESS THEY MOVE BEYOND A SMALL CIRCLE OF SUPPORTERS
Easily isolated and suppressed: very radical but have very little support)
Civil wars often produce radical social movements
Define Revolutionary Civil Wars,
Arise after the old regime as already been overthrown
Those who enjoyed privileges under the old regime, or those resisting the changes from the new one, may use counterrevolutionary forces to go to war against the new revolutionary government
Why is anger NOT the cause of revolutions?
It takes more than anger to overthrow a nation
Why is poverty/wealth disparity/class inequality not a cause of revolution?
Revolutions are more often common in middle income countries than poorer nations: poor peasants and workers cannot overthrow the government when faced with professional military forces determined to defend the regime
Revolutions can only occur when significant portions of the elites, and specifically the military, defect or stand aside (elites must first mobilize the population to overthrow)
Relative deprivation may be a factor, when class differences grow unbearable, but may also lead to resignation and despair instead of revolution
^^Deep inequality also leaves the poor without enough resources to create an effective revolutionary force
^^ONLY WHEN THE ELITE BLAME THE CURRENT REGIME AND ORDER FOR FAULTS SUCH AS POVERTY, THEN PEOPLE WILL RISE AGAINST IT
Why is modernization NOT a cause of revolution?
modernization has led to some revolutions in the past, but often it strengthens rulers and creates more powerful authoritarian regimes, or creates a smooth transition to democracy
Why is the spread of a new ideological idea NOT the cause of a revolution?
does not explain why people would be drawn to dangerous and violent new political ideas, rulers and elites usually enforce their beliefs that justify their rule while harshly punishing those who question their authority
New ideologies produce revolutionary actions ONLY when there has been a shift in elite positions, which creates space and opportunities mobilize people around new beliefs
