“There is individual freedom, but there is also the collective, political level of freedom. I think the attempt to combine the two is what makes countercultural movements so unique—and why I think their account of freedom is revolutionary.”
Category: Nota Bene
Robert Darnton Interviewed by Disha Karnad Jani: “The Revolutionary Temper”
“Darnton traces how the antecedents to revolution circulated among the Parisian public in the decades before the storming of the Bastille, through their everyday oppositions to the rising price of bread, the overreaches of the monarchy, and the policing of poor neighborhoods. Through their growing sense that the powerful in their society were not governing as they should,…
Alexander Aerts: “Alexandre Kojève: Bildung in a Revolutionary Cell”
“Kojève thought that this revolutionary terror formed the necessary condition for the creation of freedom to come. The realisation of this ‘actual’ freedom came about with the eventual dissolution of ‘absolute’ freedom. In 1918, with Russia standing at the crossroads of history, the constitution of the Bolshevik regime and the previous period of war communism…
Farzeen Nasri: “Is a Revolution in Iran on the Horizon?”
Revolutions have been understood in different ways, but two primary definitions are particularly relevant. One views a revolution as “a movement that brings about the (violent) overthrow of a government,” which leads to significant social and political changes. The other defines it as a radical shift in political order, where one system is replaced by…
Jiří Juhász: ‘“Losers” in History: Charles Tilly and the Fates of the Defeated in Revolutionary Change’
“In examining the experiences of the “losers” in revolutionary change, Charles Tilly’s work provides a critical lens for understanding the dynamics of resistance and counter-revolution. Whether in the context of the Vendée, the Arab Spring, or the 1989 revolutions, the losers often sought to preserve aspects of the old order. “
Roberto Breña: “The Age of Revolutions Under the Microscope”
“This bibliographic essay critically reviews two recent books on the Atlantic Revolutions and the Age of Revolutions: The Age of Atlantic Revolution by Patrick Griffin (2023) and The Age of Revolutions by Nathan Perl-Rosenthal (2024).”
T.J. Clark: “Knife at the Throat”
“Shatz, just as much as Macey, wishes to tell the story of the making of a revolutionary. He too knows that in Fanon’s case the identity ‘revolutionary’ held together (just) many half-identities, many human conditions, some embraced and some rejected, some explicit, others living on in an inflexible Unconscious.”
Shafi Md Mostofa: “Injustice Paves the Way for Revolution: Lessons from Bangladesh”
“Moreover, the success of any revolution depends on the cultural preparedness of the people. Revolutions may be sparked by injustice, but their outcomes are shaped by the collective consciousness and readiness of the populace to embrace change. In Bangladesh’s case, the cultural strength of the student-led movement, and the symbolic leadership of a figure like…
Miguel Amorós: “What is Anarchism?”
“Despite the undeniably crucial role of the anarchist masses in the revolutions of the last century, no matter how much we search through classic anarchist literature, we will find few references to revolution as a means of transforming society. Because of the violent implications it necessarily contains, it contradicted the pacifist postulates of the ideology,…
Emi Eleode: “‘In some cases, it was the women who were fiercest in the fight’: The female freedom fighters of the Haitian Revolution”
“However, it’s important to acknowledge that the brave overthrowing of slavery and the creation of an independent Haiti was a joint victory between men and women. And while many sources exist focusing on the male figures of the Haitian Revolution, recent efforts have been made by historians, scholars, activists, writers and others to locate women’s…