On Revolutions : Unruly Politics in the Contemporary World

In On Revolutions, six prominent scholars of revolutions generate a new conversation about revolutions: past, present, and future. Integrating insights from diverse fields--civil resistance studies, international relations, social movements, terrorism--the book offers new ways of thinking about persistent problems in the study of revolution. Drawing on a wide range of cases, it also provides new theoretical insights, offers methodological advice, and engages with the ethical issues at the nexus of scholarship and activism.

A cutting-edge appraisal of revolution and its future.On Revolutions, co-authored by six prominent scholars of revolutions, reinvigorates revolutionary studies for the twenty-first century. Integrating insights from diverse fields--including civil resistance studies, international relations, social movements, and terrorism--they offer new ways of thinking about persistent problems in the study of revolution. This book outlines an approach that reaches beyond the common categorical distinctions. As the authors argue, revolutions are not just political or social, but they feature many types of change. Structure and agency are not mutually distinct; they are mutually reinforcing processes. Contention is not just violent or nonviolent, but it is usually a mix of both. Revolutions do not just succeed or fail, but they achieve and simultaneously fall short. And causal conditions are not just domestic or international, but instead, they are dependent on the interplay of each. Demonstrating the merits of this approach through a wide range of cases, the authors explore new opportunities for conceptual thinking about revolution, provide methodological advice, and engage with the ethical issues that exist at the nexus of scholarship and activism.