- The Oxford Handbook of Social Movements
- About the Contributors
- Author Index
- General Index
- Introduction: The Field of Social Movement Studies
- Social Movements in Social Theory
- Social Movements in Political Science
- Historical Analysis and Social Movements Research
- Contentious Politics
- New Theoretical Directions from the Study of Gender and Sexuality Movements: Collective Identity, Multi-Institutional Politics, and Emotions
- Historical Dynamics of Capitalism and Labor Movements
- Migration and Social Movements
- Religious Revivalism and Social Movements
- Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Social Movements
- Urban Dynamics and Social Movements
- Demography and Social Movements
- Motivations to Action
- Networks as Constraints and Opportunities
- Rational Action
- Micromobilization and Emotions
- Demobilization and Disengagement in a Life Course Perspective
- Social Movements and Organizational Analysis
- Network Approaches and Social Movements
- Social Movement Coalitions
- Movements as Communities
- New Technologies and Social Movements
- Geography and Social Movements
- Communication in Movements
- Strategy
- Repertoires of Contention
- Riots
- Political Violence
- Social Mobilization and Violence in Civil War and their Social Legacies
- Civil Resistance
- Consumer Strategies in Social Movements
- Voluntary Actions and Social Movements
- Cultural Conflicts and Social Movements
- Narrative and Social Movements
- The Art of Social Movement
- Visuals in Social Movements
- Practice Movements: The Politics of Non-Sovereign Power
- Immanent Accounts: Ethnography, Engagement, and Social Movement Practices
- Contentious Collective Action and the Evolving Nation-State
- Social Movements and the Multilateral Arena
- “The Game’s Afoot”: Social Movements in Authoritarian States
- Repression: The Governance of Domestic Dissent
- Managing Protest: The Political Action Repertoires of Corporations
- Party Systems, Electoral Systems, and Social Movements
- Populism, Social Movements, and Popular Subjectivity
- Markets, Business, and Social Movements
- Democracy in Social Movements
- Welfare Changes and Social Movements
- The Impacts of Environmental Movements
- Is it Social Movements that Construct Human Rights?
- The Conditions for Civil Society Participation in International Decision Making
- Democratic Innovations
- Revolutions and Regime Change
Abstract and Keywords
This article discusses revolutionary movements and how they lead to a change of political regime. It first reviews some definitions and characteristics of revolutions and revolutionary situations and how revolutions differ from revolutionary movements. It then examines the role of class conflict as a principal factor driving most revolutionary situations and outcomes, and how it is shaped and organized by the institutional make-up of political regimes. It also considers the ‘three major symptoms’ of revolutionary situations—or situations of ‘dual power’—according to Vladimir Lenin; the role played by organizational culture and ideology in the origins and outcomes of revolutions; and the reasons why revolutionary movements win popular support. Finally, the article analyzes revolutions in relation to democracy, social justice, and social change.
Keywords: revolutionary movements, revolutions, revolutionary situations, class conflict, political regimes, dual power, Vladimir Lenin, democracy, social justice, social change
Jeff Goodwin is Professor of Sociology at New York University
René Rojas is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at New York University
Access to the complete content on Oxford Handbooks Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.
- The Oxford Handbook of Social Movements
- About the Contributors
- Author Index
- General Index
- Introduction: The Field of Social Movement Studies
- Social Movements in Social Theory
- Social Movements in Political Science
- Historical Analysis and Social Movements Research
- Contentious Politics
- New Theoretical Directions from the Study of Gender and Sexuality Movements: Collective Identity, Multi-Institutional Politics, and Emotions
- Historical Dynamics of Capitalism and Labor Movements
- Migration and Social Movements
- Religious Revivalism and Social Movements
- Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Social Movements
- Urban Dynamics and Social Movements
- Demography and Social Movements
- Motivations to Action
- Networks as Constraints and Opportunities
- Rational Action
- Micromobilization and Emotions
- Demobilization and Disengagement in a Life Course Perspective
- Social Movements and Organizational Analysis
- Network Approaches and Social Movements
- Social Movement Coalitions
- Movements as Communities
- New Technologies and Social Movements
- Geography and Social Movements
- Communication in Movements
- Strategy
- Repertoires of Contention
- Riots
- Political Violence
- Social Mobilization and Violence in Civil War and their Social Legacies
- Civil Resistance
- Consumer Strategies in Social Movements
- Voluntary Actions and Social Movements
- Cultural Conflicts and Social Movements
- Narrative and Social Movements
- The Art of Social Movement
- Visuals in Social Movements
- Practice Movements: The Politics of Non-Sovereign Power
- Immanent Accounts: Ethnography, Engagement, and Social Movement Practices
- Contentious Collective Action and the Evolving Nation-State
- Social Movements and the Multilateral Arena
- “The Game’s Afoot”: Social Movements in Authoritarian States
- Repression: The Governance of Domestic Dissent
- Managing Protest: The Political Action Repertoires of Corporations
- Party Systems, Electoral Systems, and Social Movements
- Populism, Social Movements, and Popular Subjectivity
- Markets, Business, and Social Movements
- Democracy in Social Movements
- Welfare Changes and Social Movements
- The Impacts of Environmental Movements
- Is it Social Movements that Construct Human Rights?
- The Conditions for Civil Society Participation in International Decision Making
- Democratic Innovations
- Revolutions and Regime Change
