Artikel

Het sociaal kader en de voorwaarden van revolutie

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Abstract

The social framework and conditions of revolution - In this article an attempt has been made to put the analysis of revolution in what seems to me a new framework or new dimension. We do not attempt here to add anything new to the analysis of the causes of revolutions - be they inter-elite or class conflicts, frustration of rising levels of expectation, or the like. While there is no doubt that there is yet quite a lot to do in this field both in the detailed analysis of causes of single cases and in a comparative study of different revolutions, this is not to be the purpose of this study. Rather it addresses itself to a different question which seems to have been neglected in literature - namely, under what circumstances and under what conditions do such causes, whatever their concrete constellation, give rise to what has been called revolutions and revolutionary transformation, that in some cases also arises during the decline and disintegration of regimes or Empires; in still others they may give rise to far-reaching social change and transformation, but not - as we shall see especially in chapters 4, 5 and 9 - in the revolutionary mould. Or, in other words, while social conflict, heterodoxies, rebellion, change and transformation are inherent in human societies, that combination of different components of social action which comes under the umbrella of ”pure”, “true” or “classical” revolutions is a very special type of process through which social change and transformation takes place in human societies. Even the fact that once modern revolutions occur and become a model and symbol of change, does not mean that all processes of social change which have taken place since then indeed combine all the symbolic, organizational and institutional components of the change in this model of revolution. Hence, the central problem of this article is to analyze under what conditions -in what kinds of societies and civilizations - and under what historical circumstances such causes give rise to what has been designated as revolutions and revolutionary transformation. Such an approach puts the problem of revolution in the framework of comparative studies of civilization. The major conclusions of this article are that revolutions tend to develop in certain Imperial-feudal or Imperial political systems, which are a part of civilization in whose major cultural orientations there is a perception of strong tension between the transcendental and the mundane order; in which the focus of the revolution combines this and other-worldly ones -in situations of transition from traditional to modern political class systems, along with the development of open economic markets.

How to Cite:

Eisenstadt, S., (1977) “Het sociaal kader en de voorwaarden van revolutie”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 22(3), 199–222. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.96061