Bourgeois revolution explained

Bourgeois revolution is a term used in Marxist theory to refer to a social revolution that aims to destroy a feudal system or its vestiges, establish the rule of the bourgeoisie, and create a capitalist state.[1] [2] In colonised or subjugated countries, bourgeois revolutions often take the form of a war of national independence. The Dutch, English, American, and French revolutions are considered the archetypal bourgeois revolutions,[3] in that they attempted to clear away the remnants of the medieval feudal system, so as to pave the way for the rise of capitalism. The term is usually used in contrast to "proletarian revolution", and is also sometimes called a "bourgeois-democratic revolution".[4] [5]

Theories of bourgeois revolution

According to one version of the two-stage theory, bourgeois revolution was asserted to be a necessary step in the move toward socialism, as codified by Georgi Plekhanov.[6] In this view, countries like the Russian Empire that had preserved their feudal structure would have to establish capitalism via a bourgeois revolution before being able to wage a proletarian revolution.[7] [8] At the time of the Russian Revolution, the Mensheviks asserted this theory, arguing that a revolution led by the bourgeoisie was necessary to modernise society, establish basic freedoms, and overcome feudalism, which would establish the conditions necessary for socialism. This view is prominent in Marxist–Leninist analysis.[9] [10]

Political sociologist Barrington Moore Jr. identified the bourgeois revolution as one of three routes from pre-industrial society to the modern world, in which a capitalist mode of production is combined with liberal democracy. Moore identified the English, French, and American revolutions as examples of this route.

Historian Neil Davidson believes that neither the establishment of democracy or the end of feudal relations are defining characteristics of bourgeois revolutions but instead supports Alex Callinicos' definition of bourgeois revolution as being those that establish "an independent center of capital accumulation".[11] Charles Post labels this analysis as consequentialism, where there is no requirement of the prior development of capitalism or bourgeois class agency for bourgeois revolutions, and that they are only defined by the effects of the revolutions to promote the development of capital accumulation.

Other theories describe the evolution of the bourgeoisie as not needing a revolution.[12] The German bourgeoisie during the 1848 revolution did not strive to take command of the political effort and instead sided with the crown.[13] [14] Davidson attributes their behaviour to the late development of capitalist relations and uses this as the model for the evolution of the bourgeoisie.[15]

Left communists often view the revolutions leading to Communist states in the 20th century as "bourgeois revolutions".[16]

Goals of the bourgeois revolution

According to the Marxist view, the tasks of the bourgeois revolution include:

Bourgeois revolutions in history

Bourgeois revolutions in the Middle Ages

Although with much less diffusion, some social movements of the European Late Middle Ages received the name of bourgeois revolution, in which the bourgeoisie begins to define itself in the nascent cities as a social class. Examples include the Ciompi Revolt in the Republic of Florence, Jacquerie revolts during the Hundred Years' War in France,[18] and in Spain.[19] [20]

Bourgeois revolutions in the early modern period

The first wave of bourgeois revolutions are those that occurred within the early modern period and were typically marked by being driven from below by the petty bourgeoisie against absolutist governments.

Bourgeois revolutions in the late modern period

The second wave of bourgeois revolutions are those that occurred within the late modern period and were typically marked by being led from above by the haute bourgeoisie.

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bourgeois Revolution . TheFreeDictionary.com . 6 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921234935/https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Bourgeois+Revolution . 21 September 2022.
  2. ;
  3. , quoted in Book: Davidson, Neil . Neil Davidson (historian) . How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions? . . Chicago, Illinois . 2012 . 978-1-60846-067-0 . From Society to Politics; From Event to Process . 381–382.
  4. Bourgeois Revolution . An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Marxism, Socialism and Communism . Jozef . Wilczynski . . London . 48 . 1981 . 978-1-349-05806-8 . 10.1007/978-1-349-05806-8.
  5. Davidson . Neil . Neil Davidson (historian) . Bourgeois Revolution and the US Civil War . International Socialist Review . 83 . May 2012 . Center For Economic Research and Social Change . https://web.archive.org/web/20211227052127/https://isreview.org/issue/83/bourgeois-revolution-and-us-civil-war/index.html . 27 December 2021.
  6. Book: Plekhanov, Georgi . Georgi Plekhanov . 1949 . The Bourgeois Revolution: The Political Birth of Capitalism . 1895 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180901214130/https://www.marxists.org/archive/plekhanov/1895/anarch/bourgeois-revolution.htm . 1 September 2018.
  7. Encyclopedia: Stagism . Encyclopedia of Marxism . . 6 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182148/https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/s/t.htm . 1 December 2017.
  8. Web site: Lane . David . Revisiting Lenin's theory of socialist revolution on the 150th anniversary of his birth . 22 April 2020 . European Politics and Policy . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200503022934/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2020/04/22/revisiting-lenins-theory-of-socialist-revolution-on-the-150th-anniversary-of-his-birth/ . 3 May 2020.
  9. Grandezza e limiti della rivoluzione borghese in Marx . Renato . Caputo . it . Magnitude and limits of the bourgeois revolution in Marx . La Città Futura . 6 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230306140446/https://www.lacittafutura.it/cultura/grandezza-e-limiti-della-rivoluzione-borghese-in-marx . 6 March 2023.
  10. Innocenzo . Cervelli . 1976 . Sul concetto di rivoluzione borghese . it . On the concept of bourgeois revolution . Studi Storici . 17 . 1 . 147–155 . 6 March 2023 . 20564411 .
  11. Donny . Gluckstein . 7 October 2013 . Comment on bourgeois revolutions . International Socialism . 140 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170518085938/http://isj.org.uk/comment-on-bourgeois-revolutions/ . 18 May 2017.
  12. Book: Blackbourn, David . David Blackbourn . Economy and Society: A Silent Bourgeois Revolution . 176–205 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230221133738/https://academic.oup.com/book/5374/chapter-abstract/148175701 . 21 February 2023. in
  13. ;
  14. Book: Blackbourn, David . David Blackbourn . Economy and Society: The shadow side . 206–237 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230221133737/https://academic.oup.com/book/5374/chapter-abstract/148177433 . 21 February 2023. in
  15. Book: Davidson, Neil . Neil Davidson (historian) . How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions? . . Chicago, Illinois . 2012 . 978-1-60846-067-0 . Marx and Engels (2) 1847–52 . 144 . In a world where most states have not yet experienced bourgeois revolutions, where most are even more economically underdeveloped than Germany, they too will give rise to "belated" bourgeoisies, the implication being that it is Germany rather than France that represents the likely pattern of bourgeois development..
  16. China: The bourgeois Revolution has been accomplished, the proletarian Revolution remains to be made . Communist Program . 3 . May 1977 . International Library of the Communist Left . https://web.archive.org/web/20231010095709/https://www.sinistra.net/lib/upt/compro/lipi/lipifbobee.html . 10 October 2023.
  17. Hartmut . Elsenhans . Hartmut Elsenhans . Democratic revolution, bourgeois revolution, Arab revolution: The political economy of a possible success . NAQD . 29 . 1 . 2012 . 51–60 . 10.3917/naqd.029.0051 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230413085459/https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_NAQD_029_0051--democratic-revolution-bourgeois.htm . 13 April 2023.
  18. Book: Michel . Mollat .

    fr:Michel Mollat du Jourdin

    . Philippe . Wolff .

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    . Ongles bleus, jacques et ciompi - les révolutions populaires en Europe aux XIVe et XVe siècles . fr . Ongles bleus, Jacquerie and Ciompi - popular revolutions in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries . Calmann-Lévy . 1970.
  19. Book: Pastor de Togneri, Reyna .

    es:Reyna Pastor

    . Conflictos sociales y estancamiento económico en la España medieval . es . Social conflicts and economic stagnation in medieval Spain . Editorial Ariel . 1973.
  20. Book: Martín, José Luis . Historia de España . es . History of Spain (A society at war) . 4 - Una sociedad en guerra . Historia 16.
  21. Book: Bak, Janos . 'The Peasant War in Germany' by Friedrich Engels – 125 years later . Bak . Janos . The German Peasant War of 1525 . . 2022 . 1976 . 978-1-00-319095-0 . 10.4324/9781003190950 . 93–99 . 241881702.
  22. ;
  23. Web site: Faulkner . Neil . Neil Faulkner (archaeologist) . 24 October 2011 . A Marxist History of the World part 49: The French Revolution – Themidor, Directory and Napoleon . . https://web.archive.org/web/20231221122217/https://www.counterfire.org/article/a-marxist-history-of-the-world-part-49-the-french-revolution-themidor-directory-and-napoleon/ . 21 December 2023.
  24. Book: Lutsky, Vladimir . Vladimir Borisovich Lutsky . 1969 . Modern History of the Arab Countries . VII The Conquest of the East Sudan by Mohammed Ali. The Expedition to Morea . https://www.marxists.org/subject/arab-world/lutsky/ch07.htm#s2 . Marxists Internet Archive.
  25. ; ;
  26. Web site: Faulkner . Neil . Neil Faulkner (archaeologist) . 8 January 2012 . A Marxist History of the World part 57: The American Civil War . . https://web.archive.org/web/20231221122214/https://www.counterfire.org/article/a-marxist-history-of-the-world-part-57-the-american-civil-war/ . 21 December 2023.
  27. Web site: Faulkner . Neil . Neil Faulkner (archaeologist) . 18 January 2012 . A Marxist History of the World part 58: The Meiji Restoration . . https://web.archive.org/web/20231221122214/https://www.counterfire.org/article/a-marxist-history-of-the-world-part-58-the-meiji-restoration/ . 21 December 2023.
  28. Book: Zhang . Yuchun . Ma . Zhenwen . 简明中国近代史 . zh . A Concise Modern History of China . Liaoning People's Publishing House . 1976 . 301.
  29. Web site: Istoriya Vsesoyuznoy kommunisticheskoy partii (bol'shevikov). Kratkiy kurs . ru:История Всесоюзной коммунистической партии (большевиков). Краткий курс . ru . History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). Short course . Commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) . 1938 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230412142256/https://history.ru/297105 . 12 April 2023.
  30. Book: Genkina, Esfir Borisovna .

    ru:Генкина, Эсфирь Борисовна

    . ru:Февральский переворот // Очерки по истории Октябрьской революции . Fevral'skiy perevorot // Ocherki po istorii Oktyabr'skoy revolyutsii . ru . The February coup // Essays on the history of the October Revolution .

    ru:Покровский, Михаил Николаевич

    . Pokrovsky . Mikhail Nikolaevich . 2 . 1927.
  31. Book: Hoxha, Enver . Enver Hoxha . 1984 . Reflections on the Middle East . 254, 265–266 . (254) From information we receive and the reports of news agencies which I read regularly, it is clear that regardless of the Islamic slogans which are used to show that the religious spirit is allegedly predominant in it, the Iranian revolution is an anti-feudal and anti-imperialist popular revolution. ... (265–266) The control of the situation has not slipped out of Khomeini's hands, but with the overthrow of the monarchy of the Pahlavis, with the liquidation of this mediaeval monarchy, the evolution in Iran has brought to the fore elements more organized, more radical, more progressive than Khomeini, elements who are operating for a democratic, bourgeois Iran with considerable rights. But we shall see to what extent they will achieve this aim. . Marxists Internet Archive.

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