1st Edition

An Analysis of Theda Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China

By Riley Quinn Copyright 2017
    112 Pages
    by Macat Library

    112 Pages
    by Macat Library

    Many people want to understand what revolutions are and – especially – how they come about, from the academics who study them to the states that wish to prevent (or, in some cases, provoke) them. But it is arguably the US scholar Theda Skocpol who has done most to create a viable model of revolution, and States and Social Revolutions is the work in which she sets out her intellectual stall.

    Skocpol's magnum opus can be considered a classic product of the critical thinking skill of problem-solving. She assesses several different revolutions – those of France, Russia and China – and asks new, productive questions about their causes and outcomes. The answers, collectively, allow her to move beyond existing theories such as the ‘voluntarist’ school (which suggests that revolutionaries have agency) and the Marxist school (which sees state institutions as nothing more than a front for class interests).

    Skocpol's model assumes that states are autonomous bureaucratic institutions, which act in their own interests – a fundamental re-imagining based on fresh interpretations of the evidence. Her analysis extends beyond the causes of revolution to their consequences, and her argument that the revolutionary state that survives is the one that successfully implements a far-reaching program of reform helps to explain not only why the three revolutions she studied have proved enduringly influential, but also why hundreds of others, less successful, are barely remembered today.

    Ways in to the Text 

    Who was Theda Skocpol? 

    What does States and Social Revolutions Say?  

    Why does States and Social Revolutions Matter?  

    Section 1: Influences 

    Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context  

    Module 2: Academic Context 

    Module 3: The Problem 

    Module 4: The Author's Contribution 

    Section 2: Ideas  

    Module 5: Main Ideas  

    Module 6: Secondary Ideas  

    Module 7: Achievement  

    Module 8: Place in the Author's Work  

    Section 3: Impact  

    Module 9: The First Responses  

    Module 10: The Evolving Debate  

    Module 11: Impact and Influence Today  

    Module 12: Where Next?  

    Glossary of Terms 

    People Mentioned in the Text  

    Works Cited

    Biography

    Riley Quinn holds master’s degrees in Politics and International Relations from both LSE and the University of Oxford.