Matin Research Journal

Matin Research Journal

Recent Theological Arguments on Fifth Generation of Revolutionary Theories

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Mohammad Salar Kasraie
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/matin.2023.370075.2111
Abstract
This paper intends to analyze theological arguments in recent years on the fifth generation of revolutionary theories. After the Arab Spring in 2011, given the characteristics of these revolutions, continuous debates took place on how to clarify and analyze these developments. In 1980, Goldstone argued three generations of revolutionary theories, followed by Foren (1993) and Goldstone (2001) who introduced fourth generation of revolutionary theories that unlike third generation, placed more emphasis on revolution as agent. The question of this paper is the emergence of fifth generation of revolutionary theories. Within less than a decade, revolutionary scientists (Allinson, Adams, Laveson, Bayat, Beck, Ritter, Eslim, Donn, …) have extensively argued revolutions in the past three decades (since 1989) and questioned capacity/incapacity of the fourth generation of revolutionary theories in clarifying and analyzing these revolutions. This paper will review such arguments and analyze the fourth generation of revolutionary theories through a critical analytical method to argue the emergence of the fifth generation of revolutionary theories. Results show that revolutions in the past three decades lacked essential components of the fourth generation of revolutionary theories, in particular, ideology, leadership, and revolutionary organization). Therefore, with the help of works by later revolutionary scientists (particularly Bayat (2017), Loveson (2019), Allinson (2021, 2019), and Adams (2021, 2019)) some characteristics of the new generation of revolutionary theories will be accessible according to which, “revolution” has found a new definition, i.e. “collective protest action, sudden (to some extent), relatively calm, nonviolent, coupled with mass mobilization, by extensive use of cyberspace and social networks, without unified leadership and ideology, along with political overhaul in line with democratization of procedures of governance”. The majority of revolutions in the past three decades have taken place against one-party dictatorships (socialist regimes), autocratic dictatorships (despotic single-person regimes in MENA (Middle East and North Africa)). Therefore, despotism has been the cause and ground for revolutions and their consequences have been political (overhaul of political system). Moving away from social revolutions (Skocpol, Foran, Goldstone), and ideological revolutions (Foran, Goldstone), the “new” revolutionary theory is after analyzing a procedure that has caused a political overhaul in despotic regimes.
Keywords
revolution
Arab Spring
social change
political overhaul
fifth generation
fourth generation

Subjects

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Matin Research Journal
Volume 25, Issue 98
Spring 2023
Pages 139-180