Revolutionary Process Research Articles

Rethinking Top-Down Revolutions: A Comparison of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia

ABSTRACT This study seeks to investigate and compare the characteristics and outcomes of top-down revolutions in Prussia and the Ottoman Empire. Top-down revolutions are distinguished by extensive social and economic transformations that do not lead to the displacement of the ruling classes. As case studies, we examine the Ottoman Empire, which was characterized by a dysfunctional parliamentary monarchy and an underdeveloped state, and Prussia, an industrialized kingdom with a functioning parliamentary monarchy. The research examines revolutionary processes and class relations and concludes that the outcome and success of top-down revolutions are influenced by geographical size, political structure, economic understanding, and class formations. The study classifies top-down revolutions as either progressive or regressive based on these criteria.

The Visual Culture of the Revolutionary Processes of Latin America in the Islamic Revolution of Iran: The Street and the Studio

Abstract This article delves into the artistic production of a group of Iranian painters whose work is considered revolutionary art. It shows how the murals and canvases painted during the early revolution of 1978–1979 in Iran were influenced by the visual culture of the revolutionary movements in Latin America. The study brings to light an overlooked aspect of the Global South revolutions during the Long Global Sixties. It supports the idea that the 1978–1979 “Islamic” revolution was chiefly a revolution against a dictatorship also driven by groups inspired by leftist ideology and iconography. These groups, consisting mainly of younger revolutionaries, were motivated by ideals like solidarity, anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism, internationalism, and Third World relations.

Cuba and Chile: Revolutionary Dialogues for Latin America

This article analyses the structural challenges of the Latin American revolution in the early 1970s, which echoed from Fidel Castro’s extensive road trip around Chile during the Salvador Allende administration in November 1971. Castro’s presence promoted massive mobilizations of Chilean workers and peasants who came in droves to listen to his speeches. By then, an interesting dialogue between the Cuban and Chilean revolutionary paths had developed on a mass-collective basis, considering the dialogical skills of both leaders, Castro and Allende, who participated together in many mass demonstrations during the 24 days that the Cuban leader spent in Chile. While Cuba experienced an insurrection and guerrilla war, Chile was promoting a “peaceful road to socialism” through electoral victories. This article investigates the relations between the two revolutionary processes through the dialogues during this visit. This article is based on press materials from those days, Castro’s and Allende’s speeches and other primary sources. It concludes that the Cuban and Chilean Revolutions were more complementary than antagonistic, contrary to the historiography that emphasizes rivalry between them.

The Role of Women in Revolutionary Movements: A Comparative Analysis of the French, American, and Mexican Revolutions

In the past, historical accounts have often excluded the contributions of women to revolutionary movements, focusing primarily on male figures and perspectives. However, recent scholarship has begun to uncover the significant and multifaceted roles that women played in shaping revolutionary events. This research has prompted a reevaluation of traditional narratives and highlighted the need for a more inclusive approach to understanding revolutions. This study seeks to address this gap by conducting a comparative analysis of women's participation across three pivotal revolutions: the French, American, and Mexican Revolutions. By examining primary sources, historical documents, and academic literature, the research aims to explain the diverse ways in which women engaged with and influenced revolutionary processes. Through qualitative methodologies, such as narrative analysis and thematic coding, the study will explore the motivations, challenges, and strategies employed by women in their revolutionary endeavors. Furthermore, the comparative approach will discuss the differences in women's experiences across different revolutionary contexts. By uncovering patterns of participation and leadership, the research aims to provide insights into the broader dynamics of gender and power within revolutionary movements. Ultimately, this research is sought to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of revolutions by focus the agency and contributions of women. By showcasing their voices and stories, the study seeks to explore historical narratives and promote greater recognition of women's roles in shaping revolutionary trajectories.

Reflections on Reading 'Journey to the West in China'

This paper re-examines the classic thesis 'Journey to the West'. Through in-depth analysis of the text, the historical background, social landscape, and character images presented in the work were explored. Re-examined the author's writing perspective and narrative strategy, revealing its unique value in documenting the Chinese revolutionary process. It analyzes the vivid description of the revolutionary struggle under the leadership of the CPC and the true portrayal of all social strata at that time. Further exploration was conducted on the important significance of "Journey to the West" in cross-cultural communication and historical inheritance, emphasizing its important role in enhancing contemporary readers' understanding and cognition of that special historical period, and providing new perspectives and reflections for in-depth research on Chinese revolutionary history.

Revolutions and Law

Two broad thematic perspectives can be distinguished in the literature that broaches the revolutions–law nexus. One considers how actors’ relations to, and usages of, legal statutes and constitutional provisions affect the dynamics of revolutionary conjunctures (law in revolutions). The other examines how the dynamics and modalities of revolutionary processes affect the content of law and the configuration of the legal order (revolutions in law). Subsumed to the law in revolutions perspective are five main topics: the use of constitutional provisions as instruments of revolutionary subversion, legally framed defensive strategies, constitutional devolutions, legitimation problems, and the courts’ stances. The revolutions in law perspective encompasses reflections on the status of law in revolutionary paradigms, the impacts of revolutionary events as acts of foundation, shifting conceptions of constituent power, and the issue of continuities coexisting with ruptures. Cutting across these two perspectives are challenges and pitfalls that studies of revolutions and law can hardly ignore: the reification of analytical and descriptive categories, the confusion of normative and positive standpoints, and the reliance on unconditional claims. Studies overcome these challenges when they document and analyze the processes whereby actors engage law as they make decisions and pursue courses of action.

Dance drama "Never Gone Radio Wave": the challenge and significance of genre dimension, emotional expression and artistic expression

With its rigorous creative attitude and exquisite dance skills, the dance drama "Never Gone Radio Wave" shows the perfection and romance of red theme dance creation and injects new vitality into spy war theme dance. Through subtle type deduction, technical support and detailed description, the revolutionary process and characters are portrayed more prominently. In shaping the characters in a specific background, the director not only highlights the main color, but also skillfully blends in other color blocks, which makes the dance drama have strong artistic expression. At the same time, the drama pays attention to the expressionist pursuit of subjective truth and transforms the fragmented historical materials into a ballet work, which fully embodies the challenge and far-reaching significance of this ballet.

The English Revolution of the 17th Century as Interpreted by the Representatives of Two Generations of the «Russian Historical School»

This article examines the interpretations of the causes, features, development, and outcomes of the English Revolution of the 17th century by scholars from the «Russian historical school» (école russe). Its older and younger generations were primarily focused on the history of France and the French Revolution. While renowned for their studies on revolutionary France, they also covered other topics. N.I. Kareev (1850–1931), M.M. Kovalevsky (1851–116), P.P. Shchegolev (1903–1936), and I.L. Popov-Lensky (1893–1931) addressed the problems of revolutionary England during the 17th century. Their complex works analyzed the revolutionary process of that period from all angles. Therefore, the theories of the English Revolution and their interpretations by the «Russian historical school» determined the subsequent development of English studies in both Soviet and post-Soviet space.

The “Stolen Revolution” and Hope: ‘Progressive’ and ‘Conservative’ Forces of the Contemporary Political Context of Kyrgyzstan

Abstract This article examines the role of the progressive forces in recent revolutions in Kyrgyzstan, and asks why their movements have not led to real political change in this Central Asian country. In Kyrgyzstan, the progressive forces are identified with such groups as young people, the educated middle class, lawyers, and journalists. Their discourses, such as demands for fair elections and the rule of law, have been central to the three revolutions that have taken place in Kyrgyzstan since 2005, as has their concept of Umut, or hope. The central thesis of this article is that, although these forces may have led recent revolutionary movements, they have proved unable to establish political dominance after the completion of revolutionary processes. Instead, after each revolutionary attempt, the rules of “local politics” have been consistently reasserted in Kyrgyzstan. These are rules based on the power of informal social and political networks governed by rules of reciprocity and the pursuit of self-interest. In spite of this recurring outcome, the progressive forces retain their commitment to hope, and it is the prism of hope which this paper uses to make sense of revolution’s failure. In this paper, a contribution to the anthropology of revolution, that idea of hope is deconstructed: this permits a greater focus on how and why the promises of revolution have, so far, been betrayed and unfulfilled in contemporary Kyrgyzstan, where the idea of hope plays a fundamental representational and political role.

Терек и Дагестан на рубеже 1917-1918 гг. в описании генерала А.И. Деникина

The article touches upon the topics related to the reflection of the development of the revolution and the Civil War in the Tersk-Dagestan region at the turn of 1917-1918 in the description of General A.I. Denikin in the 2nd volume of “Essays of the Russian Troubles”. The author examines a wide range of issues related to the revolutionary process in the North Caucasus after the Bolshe-viks seized power. The emphasis is on the fact that, due to historical, territorial, and national qual-ities, one of the first anti-Bolshevik hubs was established in the former Russian Empire’s south-east. Because of historical peculiarities of the region’s development in the period 1917-1920, rela-tions between the Terek Cossacks and nonresidents, and the Terek Cossacks and Ossetians, Che-chens and Ingush intensified. To understand the regional alignment of forces, General A.I. Denikin gave brief characteristics of local peoples and their role in revolutionary events. On the one hand, the emphasis is placed on the indomitable, superficial Bolshevism of the mountain peoples who used the revolutionary restructuring of Russian society for self-serving interests, on the other hand, the passive role of the Terek Cossacks was noted, on which, including General A.I. Denikin, hopes were pinned in the fight against regional Bolshevism. Separately, General A.I. Denikin con-sidered two regional attempts to create an interregional military-political movement against the Bolshevization of the North Caucasus. The first concerned the created in May 1917 Union of the United Highlanders of the North Caucasus and Dagestan, later, in December 1917, joined forces with the Terek Cossack government and formed the Provisional Terek-Dagestan Government headed by the Terek ataman M.A. Karaulov. The second attempt, which concerned the creation of a wider representation of the South-Eastern Union in September 1917, seemed to General A.I. Denikin more promising, however, because of prevailing military and political situation in revolu-tionary Russia in the autumn of 1917, it failed. Separately, it is worth noting the regret that the general reflected on the pages of his memoirs due to the fact that a real opportunity was missed to unite the White Guards and the mountain liberal movement into a single anti-Bolshevik camp.

COMMUNIST PARTY’S AND POLITICS’ ELITES IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF MONGOLIAN SOCIETY IN THE 1920s TO 30s

This study shows the multifactorial process of formation of new communist and political elite in Mongolia in the 1920s and 30s during the hardest period of the struggle for sovereignty and the formation of true Mongolian state. The author focuses on the analysis of domestic political and foreign policy factors influencing the development of the basic principles and mechanisms of the formation of the Mongolian Communist Party’s and politics’ elite and its participation in the process of transformation of traditional Mongolian society based on the socialist modernisation model. The characteristics of the process of formation of the Mongolian communist and political elite from the very first revolutionary circles of Mongolia People’s Party to the fundamental measures of the country’s socialist reorganisation are given. Particular attention is paid to the formation of a “tactical alliance” at the initial stage of the revolutionary process, the internal political struggle in the ranks of the Mongolian communist and political elite in carrying out fundamental social changes and the transformation of Mongolian society in the period of the 1920s-40s. On the basis of archival material and taking into account the achievements of modern Russian and foreign historiography, problematic and key issues of Russian historiography of the process of formation of the political elite and the transformation of the socialist model of the socialist model in Mongolia in the 1920s-30s are considered. The author concluded that the period of the 1920s and 30s, the struggle between old and new social forces, the formation of a new communist and political elite unfolded against a very unique background characterised, on the one hand, by the desire for national unity, the revival of Mongolian statehood, and on the other hand, by the choice of the optimal model of social development in those historical conditions.

Movement split: how the structure of revolutionary coalitions shapes revolutionary outcomes

This article investigates the relationship between the coalitional structure of revolutionary movements and revolutionary outcomes. Noting the chimerical nature of revolutionary coalitions, it introduces readers to the concept of ‘movement split’: the moment in a revolutionary process when, once a regime is overthrown, the revolutionary coalition fractures into ‘radicals’, who seek further, social revolution; and ‘conservatives’ who are satisfied with a limited, political revolution. By means of a comparative historical analysis of the 1789 French Revolution and 2011 Egyptian Revolution, it analyses the role of coalition structure in determining revolutionary outcomes after movement split. In both cases, the distribution of mobilizing capacity between radicals and conservatives was the key factor determining whether each revolutionary movement came to pursue a ‘political’ or ‘social’ revolutionary’ program. Where conservatives retained control over mobilization, advancement of the revolutionary process ended once political revolution was achieved, while when radicals retained control, a process of social revolution was undertaken. Thus, when seeking to anticipate the trajectory of change an emergent revolutionary movement is liable to undertake, it is fruitful to examine whether it is radicals or conservatives who control its principal mobilizing structures.

Революционные события XXI века: предварительный количественный анализ

In this article, the authors examine important aspects of the revolutionary process of the 21st century: the link between revolutions and the process of democratization; reasons why the revolutionary process of the early 21st century has been going on quite rapidly, as well as some predictions that it will continue to be very active in the future; an alarming trend is analyzed – the increasing number of radical Islamist revolutionary uprisings. All this is illustrated by a quantitative analysis of different types of revolutions. As far as the authors are aware, there are virtually no quantitative analyzes of the revolutions of recent decades. Meanwhile, this analysis convincingly shows the growing importance of African countries in the world-system revolutionary process, whose role will increase in the future due to rapid population growth and the “maturing” of statehood in the region.

Development History and Role of The Vietnam Trade Union Organization

Over more than 90 years of formation and development, the Vietnam Trade Union has grown in all aspects and made worthy contributions to the great victories of the revolution, contributing to building the Vietnamese working class into an increasingly powerful force. The trade union organization has been consolidated and developed, with the number of union members and grassroots trade unions growing rapidly, and the cadre team developing both in quantity and quality. The union has expanded its activities to the non-state economic sector; increasingly effective coordination with various levels of government, organizations, and employers has been achieved, better fulfilling its tasks of representing, caring for, and protecting the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of workers, promptly addressing pressing issues, and contributing to the establishment of harmonious, stable, and progressive labor relations in enterprises. This study summarizes the birth circumstances of the Vietnamese working class and the Red Union - the precursor of today's Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; the role of the Vietnam Trade Union in the revolutionary process; and the urgent task for society to enhance the role of the trade union organization.

Anything is possible: Word of Life and utopian thinking during the revolutionary processes in Estonia, 1987–1991

ABSTRACT The late 1980s was a chaotic period in Soviet Estonia. The liberalization process of the Soviet Union brought about a sense of freedom and the possibility that Estonian people would finally have a say in the future of Estonia. This unexpected feeling of freedom formed the basis for various attempts to narrate a better society, including religious visions of a new Estonia. Several of the new religious movements that emerged during this period developed their own ideas about the future of Estonia, with some incorporating utopian perspectives. Although these movements had distinct views on the identity and independence of Estonia, their ideas have not yet been thoroughly researched. The aim of this article is to show how one of the movements, Word of Life, addressed these times of change, and to elaborate on what kind of utopias about Estonia are construed in the discourses.

Phylogenetic analysis on 16S rRNA of Pseudomonas Species isolated from clinical specimens in Nigeria and other Regions

This project was to study the clinical isolates of Pseudomonas organisms in Nigeria in comparison with those of other regions of the world, to understand their evolutional relationship, using phylogenetic analysis of 16SrRNA. A total of 51 sequence data files of Pseudomonas species from different countries were selected based on 16S rRNA, using the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) webpage. Geneious software (V9.0.5) was employed for sequence alignment. Tamura- Nei was used as the genetic distant model, while the tree build method was Neighbor-Joining with a bootstrap value of 1000 and 100 numbers of replicates to indicate the revolutionary process analyzed over time. Majority of the strains from Nigeria (7) have very little or no mutations in the sequences. These strains with other strains from the other countries were clustered at the 2nd branch of the tree, with a bootstrap value of 96%. Generally, there is similarity in diversity of the Pseudomonas species across the globe. Much diversity was seen in all the strains from Saudi Arabia, as all were found on the 10th branch of the tree. Two Pseudomonas strains previously identified as belonging to other species than aeruginosa were seen to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. The low diversity shown by the strain isolates from Nigeria implies high fidelity to genetic stability with regard to the ancestral origin. The high mutation observed in all the strains from Saudi-Arabia indicates high diversity from the common ancestor and this may likely result to increased virulence and multi-drug resistance.

Peculiarities of the Latin American Independence Revolutions: A Comparative Study with the American Revolution

This paper aims to analyze the Latin American independence revolutions from a social and ideological perspective to contribute to revising the conventional wisdom of Latin American revolutionary history. The method chosen is a comparison between the aforementioned revolutions and the American Revolution, helping to demonstrate how, far from being a simple deviation or a failure, the Latin American independence revolutions had their own traits. The paper tries to answer mainly three questions: how Latin America and America received the enlightenment idea, how those ideas affected their revolutionary process, and how both regions rebuilt and restructured after the revolution.

THE INDIGENOUS REVOLUTION IN THE AMERICAS: perceptions obtained among the Laklãnõ indigenous people

The paper presents a little-explored facet of indigenous activism in Brazil: The empirical material is based on research that has been carried out with the Laklãnõ people since 2016 and which has been discussed in different spaces. The focus is to demonstrate how these indigenous are protagonists of an unprecedented revolutionary process - and outside of a Western-European orientation. This revolutionary process is articulated in a larger network with other indigenous peoples in America who carry out other anti- system fronts, not necessarily being in contact with each other, or even knowing of the actions being carried out. I specifically discuss the practical actions of the Laklãnõ people that enhance the results of this revolutionary process. The paper suggests an articulation of these and other fronts of action as constituents of a greater engine for the development of a particular model of indigenous counter-colonialism with a focus oriented on safeguarding a plant species (Zág - Araucaria) at extreme risk of extinction and which has been sacred to this people for thousands of years through the appropriation and re-signification of a series of devices that are identified by the natives as <<weapons (of colonization and destruction) of the whites.

Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Iranian Revolutionary Community in Syria and Lebanon in the 1970s.

The article is devoted to the comprehensive sociodemographic analysis of the local community of Iranian Islamists acting in Syria and Lebanon in the decade preceding the Islamic revolution of 1978-79. Thus far, history of everyday life and the multitudinous activities of the Iranian Islamic opposition in Syria and Lebanon in the 1970s has never become the principal subject of a historic research and has barely received attention from Western specialists in the history of the Islamic Revolution and modern Middle Eastern history, as well as from Iranian historians, scholars and researchers working in the field of the modern history of Iran. However, for a more comprehensive understanding of the Islamic Revolution, revolutionary processes and their logical premises and outcomes, it is highly necessary to carefully consider the sociodemographic characteristics of the active representatives of the Iranian opposition movement in the pre-revolutionary period namely in the 1970s. Throughout the comparative historical analysis of the reliable memories of longtime supporters of the Iranian Islamic movement acting in Syria and Lebanon, the fundamental sociodemographic characteristics of the active members of Iranian revolutionary movement abroad (e.g. gender, age, birthplace and place of living, educational and religious background, social marital status, etc.) are thoroughly highlighted, properly described and analyzed and their sociodemographic portrait is carefully created. The received sociohistorical data may properly serve as a valuable source on the social history of the Iranian society in the pre-revolutionary period, as well as on the complex history of Iranian revolutionary movement and the modern history of the Middle East region.

Breaking up the state and lopping off the parasites: Lenin’s ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ as the state that is ceasing to be a state

This article examines the key features of the dictatorship of the proletariat as theorised by Lenin in the heat of Russia’s revolutionary process in 1917 and stresses its special character as a ‘state that is ceasing to be a state’. The dictatorship of the proletariat represented a new form of the class struggle, the turning of centralised coercive power against the few by the many, the dissolution of the centralised force of the state through its subjection to popular sovereignty, and the emancipation of the growing state from private relations of production through the ‘lopping off ’ of parasitic monopoly capitalists.