Revolution

Social scientists have provided two alternative definitions of revolution. Some theorists articulate a political definition of revolution characterized by the forcible transfer of state power. Charles Tilly defines revolution as forcible transfer of power in the course of a struggle involving at least two distinct blocs of contenders that make incompatible claims to control the state with some significant segments of the population supporting the claims of the rival contenders. Others developed criteria that incorporated significant social outcomes. Theda Skocpol is interested in social revolutions—that is, alterations in both the political and economic structures of society. Skocpol's definition requires a rapid, basic transformation of the state and class structures that are carried out in part through class-based revolts from below. Social revolutions, though rare phenomena, have produced the most fundamental changes in the modern world and social life. For this reason, this entry will focus on the causes, processes, and outcome of social revolutions and will review alternative theories, namely, class analysis theories, state-centered theories, political-conflicts theories, and theories that stress the role of ideological transformation in accounting for revolutions.

Revolutions have played a significant role in the rise of the modern world and, over the past few centuries, have transformed the political and economic systems of social life and at least partially altered the nature of social relations. In the West, modern revolutions have been produced by conflicts over the distribution of material resources, the allocation and extent of political power, and the essence of social relations. These revolutions, in turn, eventually gave rise to modern capitalism, democracy, and various social movements, including the abolition of slavery, socialist and labor movements, civil rights, women's equality, and gay and lesbian rights. In the developing world, national liberation movements and revolutions have produced independence, nationalist regimes, and, in a few cases, socialist transformations.

Revolutionary movements and transformations have also stimulated scholarly debates about the causes, processes, and outcome of revolutions and large-scale social conflicts. Indeed, 18th- and 19th-century European revolutions and revolutionary movements influenced Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism, class conflict, and revolution, which in turn influenced generations of 20th-century social scientists.