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- For other uses, see Revolution (disambiguation).
A revolution is a significant change that usually occurs in a relatively short period of time. Variously defined revolutions have been happening throughout human history. They vary in terms of numbers of their participants (revolutionaries), means employed by them, duration, ideology and many other aspects. They may result in a socio-political change in the socio-political institutions, or a major change in a culture or economy.
The word revolution derives from Late Latin revolutia and means "a turn around."
[edit] Etymology
The word derives from Late Latin revolutio- "a revolving," from Latin revolvere "turn, roll back". It entered English, from Old French révolution, in 1390, originally only applied to celestial bodies. Only circa 1450 was it being used to mean " [an]instance of great change in affairs"; the presently dominant political meaning is first recorded 1600, again following French, and was especially applied to the expulsion of the Stuart king James II of England in 1688 and transfer of sovereignty in Britain to William III and Mary. Revolutionary as a noun is first attested 1850, from the adjective.[1]
[edit] Study of revolutions
Revolutions have been studied by many social scientists, particularly sociologists, political scientists and historians. Among the leading scholars in that area have been or are Crane Brinton, Charles Brockett, Farideh Farhi, John Foran, John Mason Hart, Samuel Huntington, Jack Goldstone, Jeff Goodwin, Ted Roberts Gurr, Fred Halliday, Chalmers Johnson, Tim McDaniel, Barrington Moore, Jeffery Paige, Vilfredo Pareto, Terence Ranger, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Theda Skocpol, James Scott, Eric Selbin, Charles Tilly, Ellen Kay Trimbringer, Carlos Vistas, John Walton, Timothy Wickham-Crowley and Eric Wolf.[2] Jack Goldstone differentiates four 'generations' of scholarly research dealing with revolutions.[3][4][5][6]
[edit] Political and socioeconomic revolutions
Perhaps most often, the world 'revolution' is employed to denote a socio-political change in the socio-political institutions. Jeff Goodwin gives two definitions of a revolution. Broader, where revolution is 'any and all instances in which a state or a political regime is overthrown and therby transformed by a popular movement in an irregular, extraconstitutional and/or violent fashion'; and narrower, in which 'revolutions entail not only mass mobilization and regime change, but also more or less rapid and fundamental social, economic and/or cultural change, during or soon after the struggle for state power'.[7] Jack Goldstone defines them as 'an effort to transform the political institutions and the justifications for political authority in society, accompanied by formal or informal mass mobilization and noninstitutionalized actions that undermine authorities.[4]
See list of revolutions and rebellions for a list of such revolutions.
[edit] Cultural, intellectual and philosophical revolutions
- Renaissance
- Protestant Reformation
- Scientific revolution
- Sexual revolution
- Quiet Revolution
- Consciousness Revolution
- Nonviolent revolution
- Cultural Revolution
[edit] Technological revolutions
These usually lead to transformations in society, culture and philosophy.
[edit] See also
- Anarchism
- Coup d'état
- Color revolution - revolutions named after colors, plants etc. in the period after the Cold War, mainly in post-communist societies
- List of fictional revolutions and coups
- Proletarian revolution
- rebellion
- Revolt
- Revolutionary wave
[edit] References
- ^ EtymologyOnLine:revolution. Last accessed on 27 October 2006
- ^ Jeff Goodwin, No Other Way Out: States and Revolutionary Movements, 1945-1991, Cambridge University Press, 2001, ISBN 2001, p.5
- ^ Jack Goldstone, "Theories of Revolutions: The Third Generation, World Politics 32, 1980:425-53
- ^ a b Jack Goldstone, "Towards a Fourth Generation of Revolutionary Theory", Annual Review of Political Science 4, 2001:139-87
- ^ John Foran, "Theories of Revolution Revisited: Toward a Fourth Generation", Sociological Theory 11, 1993:1-20
- ^ Clifton B. Kroeber, Theory and History of Revolution, Journal of World History 7.1, 1996:21-40
- ^ Goodwin, op.cit., p.9
[edit] External links
