Revolutionary Moments: Reading Revolutionary Texts

Description

Since at least the mid-seventeenth century, the concept of revolution has been an important tool both for those seeking to bring about political change and for those trying to understand it. And it is as relevant today as it has ever been. This volume re-evaluates our understanding of the history of revolutionary thought by examining a selection of key texts. These range from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, and are carefully chosen to include both constitutional documents and theoretical works by figures such as James Harrington, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Maximilian Robespierre, Peter Kropotkin and Deng Xiaoping. Each chapter engages with a particular revolutionary moment via a specific text, usually an extract of around 300 words, and considers the significance of the text for the history of revolutionary thought. The structure of the book allows readers to make connections and comparisons across the different revolutionary texts and moments, thereby providing a broader, deeper and more nuanced understanding of revolutions. Stimulating, accessible and interdisciplinary, Revolutionary Moments will appeal to students and researchers in the history of political thought and intellectual history and beyond. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Contributors Series Editors’ Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 From Native Rights to Natural Equality: The Agreement of the People (1647) Further Reading Chapter 2 James Harrington, The Commonwealth of Oceana and a Revolution in the Language of Politics Further Reading Chapter 3 Revolution Principles Further Reading Chapter 4 A ‘révolution ménagée’: Mably’s Des droits et des devoirs du citoyen Further Reading Chapter 5 Rousseau and Revolutions Further Reading Chapter 6 Exclusion at the Founding: The Declaration of Independence Further Reading Chapter 7 Securing Liberty: The Federalist Papers Further Reading Chapter 8 Revolution, Reform and the Political Thought of Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès Further Reading Chapter 9 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, August 1789: A Revolutionary Document Further Reading Chapter 10 Paine’s Rights of Man and the Religiosity of Rights Doctrines Further Reading Chapter 11 Virtue and Terror: Maximilien Robespierre on the Principles of the French Revolution Further Reading Chapter 12 The Haitian Declaration of Independence: Recognition, Freedom and Anti-French Sentiment Further Reading Chapter 13 A Lesson in Revolution: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto Further Reading Chapter 14 From National Backwardness to Revolutionary Leadership: Alexander Herzen’s Book On the Development of Revolutionary Ideas in Russia Further Reading Chapter 15 George Plekhanov and the Marxist Turn in Russia Further Reading Chapter 16 Ordinary Miracles: Lenin’s Call for Revolutionary Ambition Further Reading Chapter 17 Revolution and Evolution: Kropotkin’s Anarchism Further reading Chapter 18 Revolutionary Cultivation: Liu Shaoqi’s How to Be a Good Communist (1939) and the Rejection of Confucian Tradition Further Reading Chapter 19 Between Socialist Futures: Mao Zedong on the ‘Ten Major Relationships’ Further Reading Chapter 20 Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth: Embodying Anti-Colonial Action Further Reading Chapter 21 Social Imperialism and Mao’s Three Worlds: Deng Xiaoping’s Speech at the UN General Assembly, 1974 Further Reading Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Index