Revolutions and Social Change

Catalog description

Why do revolutions occur in some places and times but not others? Why are some revolutions successful in taking state power, and why do most of them fail? When are successful revolutions able to dramatically transform the politics, economy and culture of a society? With these general questions in mind, we explore the history of different types of revolutions throughout the world. Drawing on several disciplines, using academic essays, films, novels, and poems to explore both the causes and the consequences of revolutions (the forcible overthrow and replacement of a government by the governed) from their inception in the 17th century until today. After discussing general theories of revolutions, the course turns to the early modern democratic revolutions in England (1688) and France (1789), then turn to the Marxist-inspired revolutions in Russia (1917) and China (1949), anti-colonial revolutions in the United States (1776), Latin America (19th century), and Africa (mostly post-WWII), and conclude with the revolutions in Iran (1979) and North Africa and the Middle East known as "Arab Spring" (early 2010s).