A Social Revolution

State structures, international forces, and class relations: Theda Skocpol shows how all three combine to explain the origins and accomplishments of social-revolutionary transformations. Social revolutions have been rare but undeniably of enormous importance in modern world history. States and Social Revolutions provides a new frame of reference for analyzing the causes, the conflicts, and the outcomes of such revolutions. It develops a rigorous, comparative historical analysis of three major cases: the French Revolution of 1787 through the early 1800s, the Russian Revolution of 1917 through the 1930s, and the Chinese Revolution of 1911 through the 1960s. Believing that existing theories of revolution, both Marxist and non-Marxist, are inadequate to explain the actual historical patterns of revolutions, Skocpol urges us to adopt fresh perspectives. Above all, she maintains that states conceived as administrative and coercive organizations potentially autonomous from class controls and interests must be made central to explanations of revolutions.

For decades, political observers and pundits have characterized the Islamic Republic of Iran as an ideologically rigid state on the verge of collapse, exclusively connected to a narrow social base. In A Social Revolution, Kevan Harris convincingly demonstrates how they are wrong. Previous studies ignore the forceful consequences of three decades of social change following the 1979 revolution. Today, more people in the country are connected to welfare and social policy institutions than to any other form of state organization. In fact, much of Iran’s current political turbulence is the result of the success of these social welfare programs, which have created newly educated and mobilized social classes advocating for change. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Iran between 2006 and 2011, Harris shows how the revolutionary regime endured though the expansion of health, education, and aid programs that have both embedded the state in everyday life and empowered its challengers. This first serious book on the social policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran opens a new line of inquiry into the study of welfare states in countries where they are often overlooked or ignored.

Theda Skocpol, author of the award-winning 1979 book States and Social Revolutions, updates her arguments about social revolutions.

The author attempts to analyze Hitler's appeal to German farmers, workers, businessmen, industrialists, women and youth. Beginning with Germany's social situation after World War I, he demonstrates how Hitler improvised a programme that claimed to offer a classless society.

We are at the dawn of the Autonomous Revolution, a technological revolution as decisive as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. Autonomous machines are capable of learning and adapting faster than humans and entirely on their own. And for the first time in human history we no longer require physical locations to work, play, shop, socialize, or be entertained. William Davidow and Michael Malone, authors of the seminal book The Virtual Corporation, explore the enormous implications of these developments. They show why increases in productivity no longer translate into increases in the GDP, how invisible algorithms control what you see and hear, and much more. Many of the book's recommendations—such as monetizing internet usage and making companies pay for personal information—are likely to be controversial, but this debate needs to begin now, before the Autonomous Revolution overcomes us.

Reproduction of the original: The Theory of Social Revolution by Brooks Adams

Explore the groundbreaking ideas of American historian Brooks Adams in 'The Theory of Social Revolutions'. Adams provides a compelling critique of capitalism, offering a theory of predictable cycles of rise and fall in commercial activities. He argues that the desire for individual wealth often leads to a disregard for spiritual values, ultimately resulting in the breakdown of society due to greed. Adams also delves into the limitations of the judicial function and the rise of political courts. This thought-provoking book challenges readers to question the role of capitalism in society and offers insight into the potential consequences of prioritizing individual wealth over collective well-being.