The revolution is social. Types and forms of social revolution What social revolutions do you know

Definition 1

Social revolution in modern scientific literature is understood as a sharp change social order predominantly by force with the participation of large masses of people; abrupt qualitative change in development social phenomena, processes; method of transition from one phase social development to another.

At its core, a revolution is a complex social phenomenon that has a contradictory, paradoxical nature: on the one hand, it promotes progressive social development by removing social contradictions and overcoming social conflicts; on the other hand, it acts as a kind of social “earthquake”, an extreme degree of aggravation of all existing social contradictions up to and including open civil confrontation.

Essential features of social revolutions

The following can be named as the main essential features that distinguish a social revolution from other socio-political changes:

Revolutions always involve mass social movements;
revolution necessarily leads to large-scale changes and reforms;
revolution presupposes the threat of violence from participants in mass movements.

These features distinguish a revolution from a coup d'etat, which consists of replacing one ruling elite with another without significant changes to the system of power and political institutions.

Causes of social revolutions

The main causes of social upheaval include the following:

an increase in the basic needs of the population in the absence of opportunities to minimally satisfy them;
the formation among the majority of the population of an urgent need for large-scale political and social reform;
the inability, inability or unwillingness of power structures to peacefully resolve this formed need;
loss of the ability of power structures to act and manage law enforcement agencies;
complete decline in the authority of the authorities.

The main goal of the social revolution is to change the system of production relations, the socio-economic conditions of the existence of society, the result of which is a complete renewal of the entire society.

Change of power as an essential sign of revolution

The issue of the transfer of state power to revolutionary forces is a key aspect of any social revolution. Taking into account the fact that the basis for the aggravation of social confrontation, as a rule, is a clash of socio-political interests, the conquest of political power is the most important tool for achieving socio-economic dominance. In other words, the conquest of political power is a means of legal and political consolidation new system socio-economic relationships.

In the most general view There are two forms of transfer of power:

one-time;
gradual.

In turn, there are two main forms of one-time transfer of power:

legitimate – one-time without armed confrontation;
one-time in the form of armed struggle - seizure of power as a result of a military coup or armed uprising.

The gradual transition of power is represented by the following forms:

degeneration of functioning power - a gradual transition without armed war;
gradual in the form of armed struggle - civil war.

It should be noted that social revolution can be carried out in any of the above ways.

Note 1

Thus, social revolutions represent deep, ontological transformations of every aspect of society, including a change in power elites, a system of production interactions, which are often violent in nature, and involve mass social movements in confrontation.

Definition 1

In modern scientific literature, social revolution is understood as a sharp change in the social system, predominantly by force, with the participation of large masses of people; abrupt qualitative change in the development of social phenomena and processes; a way of transition from one phase of social development to another.

Essential features of social revolutions

The following can be named as the main essential features that distinguish a social revolution from other socio-political changes:

Revolutions always involve mass social movements;
revolution necessarily leads to large-scale changes and reforms;
revolution presupposes the threat of violence from participants in mass movements.

These features distinguish a revolution from a coup d'etat, which consists of replacing one ruling elite with another without significant changes to the system of power and political institutions.

Causes of social revolutions

The main causes of social upheaval include the following:

an increase in the basic needs of the population in the absence of opportunities to minimally satisfy them;
the formation among the majority of the population of an urgent need for large-scale political and social reform;
the inability, inability or unwillingness of power structures to peacefully resolve this formed need;
loss of the ability of power structures to act and manage law enforcement agencies;
complete decline in the authority of the authorities.

Change of power as an essential sign of revolution

In the most general form, there are two forms of transfer of power:

one-time;
gradual.

In turn, there are two main forms of one-time transfer of power:

legitimate – one-time without armed confrontation;
one-time in the form of armed struggle - seizure of power as a result of a military coup or armed uprising.

The gradual transition of power is represented by the following forms:

degeneration of functioning power - a gradual transition without armed war;
gradual in the form of armed struggle - civil war.

It should be noted that social revolution can be carried out in any of the above ways.

Note 1

In accordance with the structure and main characteristic of any system the following can be distinguished types of changes in general and social changes in particular:

In science, content is understood as the totality of elements of a system, so here we are talking about changes in the elements of the system, their appearance, disappearance, or changes in their properties. Since the elements of the social system are social actors, then this could be, for example, a change in the personnel composition of the organization, i.e., the introduction or abolition of some positions, a change in the qualifications of officials or a change in the motives for their activity, which is reflected in an increase or decrease in labor productivity.

Structural changes

These are changes in the set of connections between elements or the structure of these connections. In a social system, this may look like, for example, moving a person in the job hierarchy. At the same time, not all people understand that structural changes have occurred in the team, and may not be able to adequately respond to them, painfully perceive the instructions of the boss, who just yesterday was an ordinary employee.

Functional changes

These are changes in the actions performed by the system. Changes in the functions of a system can be caused by changes in both its content or structure and the surrounding environment. social environment, i.e. external connections of the system. For example, feature changes government agencies may be caused by both demographic changes within the country and external influences, including military ones, from other countries.

Development

A special type of change is development. It is customary to talk about its presence in a certain way. In science, development is considered to be directed and irreversible change, leading to the appearance qualitatively new objects. An object in development, at first glance, remains itself, but a new set of properties and connections forces us to perceive this object in a completely new way. For example, a child and the specialist who grows up from him in any field of activity is, in essence, different people, they are assessed and perceived by society differently, since they occupy completely different positions in the social structure. Therefore, they say about such a person that he has gone through the path of development.

Change and development are one of the fundamental aspects of considering all sciences.

Essence, types of concepts of social change

Changes — these are the differences between what the system represented in past, And what happened to her after a certain period of time.

Changes are inherent in the entire living and inanimate world. They happen every minute: “everything flows, everything changes.” A person is born, ages, dies. His children go through the same path. Old societies are falling apart and new societies are emerging.

In sociology under social change understand transformation, occurring over time In the organisation, , thought patterns, culture and social behavior.

Factors, reason social changes are represented by a variety of circumstances, such as changes in the habitat, the dynamics of the size and social structure of the population, the level of tension and struggle for resources (especially in modern conditions), discoveries and inventions, acculturation (the assimilation of elements of other cultures during interaction).

Push, driving forces social changes can be transformations both in the economic, political, social and spiritual spheres, but with different speed and strength, fundamental impact.

The topic of social change was one of the central ones in the sociology of the 19th and 20th centuries. This was explained by the natural interest of sociology in the problems of social development and social progress, the first attempts at scientific explanation of which belonged to O. Comte and G. Spencer.

Sociological theories of social change are usually divided into two main branches - theories social evolution And theories of social revolution, which are considered primarily within the framework of the social conflict paradigm.

Social evolution

Theories social evolution defined social change as transition from one stages of development to more complex ones. A. Saint-Simon should be considered the predecessor of evolutionary theories. Common in the conservative tradition late XVIII — early XIX V. he supplemented the idea of the life of society as equilibrium with the provision of steady consistent promotion of society To higher levels of development.

O. Comte connected the processes of development of society, human knowledge and culture. All societies pass three stages: primitive, intermediate And scientific, which correspond to the forms of the human knowledge (theological, metaphysical And positive). Evolution of society for him it is an increase in the functional specialization of structures and an improvement in the adaptation of parts to society as an integral organism.

The most prominent representative of evolutionism, G. Spencer, represented evolution as an upward movement, a transition from simple to complex, not having a linear and unidirectional character.

Any evolution consists from two interconnected processes: differentiation of structures and their integration into more high level . As a result, societies are divided into diverging and branching groups.

Modern structural functionalism, continuing the Spencerian tradition that rejected the continuity and unilinearity of evolution, supplemented it with the idea of greater functional fitness that arises during the differentiation of structures. Social change is seen as the result of a system adapting to its environment. Only those structures that provide the social system with greater adaptability to the environment move evolution forward. Therefore, although society changes, it remains stable through new and beneficial forms of social integration.

Given evolutionist concepts mainly explained the origin of social changes as endogenous, i.e. internal reasons . The processes occurring in society were explained by analogy with biological organisms.

Another approach - exogenous - is represented by the theory of diffusion, the seepage of cultural patterns from one society to another. The channels and mechanisms of penetration of external influences are placed at the center of the analysis here. These included conquest, trade, migration, colonization, imitation, etc. Any culture inevitably experiences the influence of other cultures, including the cultures of conquered peoples. This reciprocal process of mutual influence and interpenetration of cultures is called acculturation in sociology. Thus, Ralph Linton (1937) drew attention to the fact that fabric first made in Asia, watches that appeared in Europe, etc. became an integral and familiar part of the life of American society. In the same United States, immigrants from the most important roles throughout history have played different countries peace. One can even talk about strengthening last years the influence of Hispanic and African-American subcultures on the previously virtually unchanged English-speaking culture of American society.

Social evolutionary changes, in addition to fundamental ones, can occur in the subtypes of reforms, modernization, transformation, and crises.

1.Reforms in social systems Oh — transformation, change, reorganization of any aspects of public life or the entire social system. Reforms, as opposed to revolutions, involve gradual changes one or another social institutions, spheres of life or the system as a whole. They are carried out with the help of new legislative acts and are aimed at improving existing system without its qualitative changes.

Under reforms usually understand slow evolutionary changes, not leading to mass violence, rapid changes in political elites, rapid and radical changes in the social structure and value orientations.

2. Social modernization — progressive social change, as a result of which social system(subsystem) improves its functioning parameters. The process of transforming a traditional society into an industrial one is usually called modernization. Social modernization has two varieties:

organic— development on own basis;
inorganic- response to an external challenge, in order to overcome backwardness (initiated by " above»).

3. Social transformation- transformations occurring in society as a result of certain social changes, both purposeful and chaotic. A period of historical changes that established itself in the countries of Central Europe from the late 80s - early 90s, and then in former republics the collapse of the USSR, is expressed precisely by this concept, which initially had a purely technical meaning.

Social transformation usually refers to the following changes:

Changes in political and government systems, abandonment of the monopoly of one party, creation of a Western-style parliamentary republic, general democratization of social relations.
Updating the economic fundamentals social system, a departure from the so-called central planned economy with its distribution functions, orientation towards a market-type economy, in the interests of which:
- denationalization of property and a broad privatization program are being carried out;
- a new legal mechanism for economic and financial relations is being created, allowing for a variety of forms of economic life and creating an infrastructure for the development of private property;
- free prices are introduced.

By now, almost All countries have created a legal framework for the development of a market economy.

The period of active entry into the market was associated with a breakdown in the financial system, inflation, rising unemployment, a weakening of the general cultural background, a surge in crime, drug addiction, a decline in the level of public health, and an increase in mortality. In a number of new post-socialist states, military conflicts were unleashed, including civil wars, which brought massive loss of life and great material destruction. These events affected Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Moldova, Russia and other republics and regions of the former Soviet Union. National unity has been lost. The economic restructuring challenges facing each new sovereign country, if tackled separately, without taking into account previous cooperative ties, will require a huge overspending of scarce capital investments and will cause fierce competition between economic regions that once complemented each other. As compensation, society received a rejection of the socialist universality of labor, the elimination of the system of social dependency with the simultaneous proclamation of standard liberal democratic freedoms.

Practical adaptation to the requirements of the global market assumes new forms of foreign economic activity, restructuring economy, i.e. destruction its established proportions and cooperative connections(in particular, carrying out conversion, i.e. a radical weakening of the arms production sector).

This also includes the problem environmental security, which really takes on the character of one of the most important factors development of national production.

Changes in the sphere of spiritual values and priorities

This area of transformation touches on the problems of socio-spiritual adaptation to new conditions of existence large quantity people, their consciousness, changes in value criteria. Moreover, the change in mentality is directly related to the process of socialization in new conditions. Modern development shows that the transformation of political and economic systems can be carried out in a relatively short time, while consciousness and socialization, which have been a priority for a long life, cannot undergo rapid change. They continue to influence and can, in the process of adapting to new requirements, cause a crisis of the person and the system.

In the public consciousness of the population of transformation countries, generally accepted criteria for property stratification have not yet been developed. The deepening gap between rich and poor, the progressive impoverishment of a significant part of the working-age population give rise to a well-known reaction: an increase in crime, depression and other negative psychological consequences, reducing the attractiveness of the new social system. But the course of history is inexorable. Objective necessity always turns out to be higher than the subjective factor. Transformation, thus, turns out to be a specific development mechanism designed to provide not only guarantees against the restoration of the old system, the return of the previous ideology, but also the reconstruction of a powerful state that could significantly influence geopolitical processes in their economic, trade, financial, military, scientific and technical and other measurements, which is a Russian specificity.

In sociology social change exists significant amount concepts, theories and directions. Let's look at the most researched ones: evolutionist, neo-evolutionist And theory of cyclical changes.

Evolutionism comes from the fact that society is developing in an ascending line- from lower forms to higher ones. This movement is constant and irreversible. All societies, all cultures go from a less developed state to a more developed one according to a single pre-established pattern. Representatives of classical evolutionism are such scientists as Charles Darwin, O. Comte, G. Spencer, E. Durkheim. For example, Spencer believed that the essence of evolutionary change and progress lies in the complication of society, in the strengthening of its differentiation, in the withering away of unadapted individuals, social institutions, cultures, and the survival and prosperity of the adapted.

Classical evolutionism views changes as strictly linear, ascending and developing according to a single scenario. This theory has repeatedly been subject to justified criticism from its opponents.

The following arguments were put forward:

many historical events have a limited and random nature;
the growth in the diversity of human populations (tribes, cultures, civilizations) does not give grounds to talk about a single evolutionary process;
the increasing conflict potential of social systems does not correspond to evolutionary views on change;
The cases of retreats, failures and destruction of states, ethnic groups, and civilizations in the history of mankind do not give grounds to talk about a single evolutionary scenario.

Evolutionist postulate(statement) about inevitable the sequence of development is questioned by those historical fact that in the course of development some stages may be skipped, and the passage of others was accelerated. For example, most European countries in the course of their development passed such a stage as slavery.

Some non-Western societies cannot be judged on a single scale of development and maturity. They qualitatively different from Western ones.

Evolution cannot be equated with progress, since many societies, as a result of social changes, find themselves in a state of crisis and/or deteriorating. For example, Russia, as a result of what began in the early 90s. XX century Liberal reforms in terms of their main indicators (socio-economic, technological, moral and ethical, etc.) turned out to be set back many decades in their development.

Classical evolutionism essentially excludes the human factor in social change, instilling in people the inevitability of upward development.

Neo-evolutionism. In the 50s XX century After a period of criticism and disgrace, sociological evolutionism again became the focus of attention among sociologists. Scientists such as G. Lenski, J. Stewart, T. Parsons and others, distancing themselves from classical evolutionism, proposed their own theoretical approaches to evolutionary changes.

Basic provisions of neo-evolutionism

If classical evolutionism proceeds from the fact that all societies go through the same path of development from lower to higher forms, then representatives neo-evolutionism are coming to the conclusion that every culture, every society, along with general trends, has its logic of evolutionary development. The focus is not on the sequence of necessary stages, but on the causal mechanism of change.

When analyzing neo-evolutionists try to avoid assessments and analogies with progress. Basic views are formed in form of hypotheses and assumptions, rather than as direct statements.

Evolutionary processes do not flow uniformly along an ascending straight line, but spasmodically and are multi-linear in nature. On each new level The leading line of social development may become one of the lines that even played a secondary role at the previous stage.

Theories of cyclical change. Cyclicality various natural, biological and social phenomena was already known in ancient times . For example, ancient Greek philosophers and others developed the doctrine of the cyclical nature of political regimes of power.

In the Middle Ages, the Arab scholar and poet Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) compared cycles of civilization with the life cycles of living organisms: growth - maturity - old age.

During the Enlightenment, the Italian court historiographer Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) developed a theory of the cyclical development of history. He believed that the typical historical cycle goes through three stages: anarchy and savagery; order and civilization; the decline of civilization and a return to new barbarism. Moreover, each new cycle is qualitatively different from the previous one,
that is, the movement proceeds in an upward spiral.

Russian philosopher and sociologist K. Ya. Danilevsky (1822-1885) in his book “Russia and Europe” presented human history, divided into separate historical and cultural types or civilizations. Each civilization, like a biological organism, goes through the stages of birth, maturity, decrepitude and death. In his opinion, no civilization is better or more perfect; each has its own values and thereby enriches the general human culture; each has its own internal logic of development and goes through its own stages.

In 1918, the book of the German scientist O. Spengler (1880-1936) “The Decline of Europe” was published, where he develops the ideas of his predecessors about the cyclical nature of historical changes and identifies eight higher cultures: Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, Greco-Roman, Arabic, Mexican (Mayan) and Western. Every culture experiences cycles of childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Having realized the entire sum of possibilities and fulfilled its purpose, the culture dies. The emergence and development of a particular culture cannot be explained from the point of view of causality - the development of culture occurs according to its inherent internal necessity.

Spengler's forecasts regarding the future of Western culture were very gloomy. He believed that western culture passed the stage of its heyday and entered the stage of decomposition.

Life cycle theory civilizations found its development in the works of the English historian A. Toynbee (1889-1975), who believed that The World History represents the emergence, development and decline relatively closed discrete (discontinuous) civilizations. Civilizations arise and develop as a response to the challenge of the surrounding natural and social environment (unfavorable natural conditions, attack by foreigners, persecution of previous civilizations). As soon as the answer is found, a new challenge and a new answer follows.

Analysis of the above points of view allows us to draw some general conclusions from the theory of cyclical changes as a whole:

cyclical processes there are closed, when each complete cycle returns the system to its original (identical to the original) position; there are spiral-shaped when the repetition of certain stages occurs at a qualitatively different level - higher or lower);
any social system in its development undergoes a series of successive stages: origin, development(maturity), decline, destruction;
phases development systems usually have varying intensity and duration(accelerated processes of change in one phase may be replaced by long-term stagnation (conservation);
no civilization (culture) is better or more perfect;
social change- it's not only the result of the natural process of development of social systems, but alsothe result of active transformative human activity.

Social revolution

The second type of social change is revolutionary.

Revolution represents fast, fundamental, socio-economic and political changes, carried out, as a rule, by force. Revolution- This is a revolution from below. It sweeps away the ruling elite, which has proven its inability to govern society, and creates a new political and social structure, new political, economic and social relations. As a result of the revolution basic transformations are taking place in the social-class structure of society, in the values and behavior of people.

Revolution involves to active political activity large masses people. Activity, enthusiasm, optimism, hope for a bright future mobilize people for feats of arms, free labor and social creativity. During the period of revolution, mass activity reaches its apogee, and social changes reach unprecedented speed and depth. K. Marx called revolution« locomotives of history».

According to K. Marx, revolution is a qualitative leap, the result of the resolution of fundamental contradictions in the basis of the socio-economic formation between backward production relations and productive forces that outgrow their framework. The direct expression of these contradictions is class conflict. In a capitalist society, this is an irreducible antagonistic conflict between the exploiters and the exploited. To fulfill its historical mission, the advanced class (for the capitalist formation, according to Marx, the proletariat, the working class) must realize its oppressed position, develop class consciousness and unite in the struggle against capitalism. The most far-sighted progressive representatives of the obsolete class provide assistance in obtaining the necessary knowledge to the proletariat. The proletariat must be ready to solve the problem of gaining power by force. According to Marxist logic, socialist revolutions should have occurred in the most developed countries, since they were more mature for this.

Follower and student of K. Marx E. Bernstein at the end
XIX century, based on statistical data on the development of capitalism in industrial countries, doubted the inevitability of revolution in the near future and suggested that the transition to socialism could be relatively peaceful and would take a relatively long historical period. V.I. Lenin modernized the theory of socialist revolution, insisting that it should occur in the weakest link of the capitalist system and serve as a “fuse” for the world revolution.

History of the 20th century showed that both Bernstein and Lenin were right in their own way. Socialist revolutions did not occur in economically developed countries; they occurred in problem regions of Asia and Latin America. Sociologists, in particular the French scientist Alain Touraine, believe that the main reason for the lack of revolutions in developed countries is the institutionalization of the main conflict - the conflict between labor and capital. They have legislative regulators of interaction between employers and employees, and the state acts as a social arbiter. In addition, the proletariat of the early capitalist society that K. Marx studied was absolutely powerless and had nothing to lose except its chains. Now the situation has changed: in the leading industrial states democratic procedures in the political sphere are in force and strictly observed, and most of The proletariat is the middle class, which has something to lose. Modern followers of Marxism also emphasize the role of the powerful ideological apparatus of capitalist states in restraining possible revolutionary uprisings.

Non-Marxist theories of social revolutions primarily include sociology of revolution P. A. Sorokina. In his opinion, revolution there is a painful process that turns into a total social disorganization . But even painful processes have their own logic - a revolution is not a random event. P. Sorokin calls its three main conditions:

an increase in suppressed basic instincts - the basic needs of the population and the impossibility of satisfying them;
the repression to which the dissatisfied are subjected must affect large groups of the population;
the forces of order do not have the means to suppress destructive tendencies.

Revolutions have three phases: short-term phase joy and expectation; destructive when old orders are eradicated, often together with their bearers; creative, in the process of which the most persistent pre-revolutionary values and institutions are largely reanimated. General conclusion P. Sorokin is as follows: damage caused to society by revolutions, always turns out to be big, than probable benefit.

The topic of social revolutions is also touched upon by other non-Marxist theories: Vilfredo Pareto’s theory of elite circulation, the theory of relative deprivation and the theory of modernization. According to the first theory, a revolutionary situation is created by the degradation of elites who have been in power for too long and do not ensure normal circulation - replacement by a new elite. Ted Garr's theory of relative deprivation, which explains the emergence of social movements, links the emergence of social tension in society with the gap between the level of people's demands and the ability to achieve what they want. Modernization theory views revolution as a crisis arising in the process of political and cultural modernization of society. It arises when modernization is carried out unevenly in different spheres of society.

REVOLUTION (SOCIAL)

social, a way of transition from a historically outdated socio-economic formation to a more progressive one, a radical qualitative revolution in the entire socio-economic structure of society. The content of R. is classically revealed by K. Marx in the Preface to the “Critique of Political Economy”: “At a certain stage of its development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with existing production relations, or - which is only the legal expression of the latter - with property relations, within which they have developed so far. From the forms of development of the productive forces, these relations turn into their fetters. Then the era of social revolution begins. With a change in the economic basis, a revolution occurs more or less quickly in the entire huge superstructure. When considering such revolutions, it is always necessary to distinguish between the material, with with natural scientific precision, an ascertainable revolution in the economic conditions of production from legal, political, religious, artistic or philosophical, in short - from ideological forms in which people are aware of this conflict and fight for its resolution" (Marx K. and Engels F., Works, 2 ed., vol. 13, p. 7).

The nature, scale, and specific content of any reform are determined by the conditions of the socio-economic formation that it is intended to eliminate, as well as by the specifics of the socio-economic system for which it clears the ground. As we move to higher stages of social development, the scale expands, the content deepens, and the objective tasks of R. become more complex. In the early stages of the history of society (the transition from the primitive communal system to the slave-owning system, from the slave-owning to the feudal), R. occurred primarily spontaneously and consisted of a combination of sporadic, in most cases of local mass movements and uprisings. During the transition from feudalism to capitalism, revolution acquires the features of a national process in which conscious activity plays an increasingly important role. political parties and organizations (see Bourgeois revolution). In the era of transition from capitalism to socialism, a world revolutionary process is unfolding, in which the conscious political activity of the advanced class becomes a necessary condition development and victory of R. R. finds its most complete expression in the socialist revolution, which liberates society from all forms of exploitation and oppression, laying the foundation for the formation of a communist socio-economic formation (see Communism), where, in the words of K. Marx, ". .. social evolutions will cease to be political revolutions and" (ibid., vol. 4, p. 185).

The economic basis of revolution is the deepening conflict between the growth of the productive forces of society and the outdated, conservative system of production relations, which manifests itself in the aggravation of social antagonisms and the intensification of the struggle between the ruling class, interested in preserving the existing system, and the oppressed classes. The revolutionary struggle of the oppressed classes (spontaneous or conscious) expresses the urgent need to free the productive forces from the shackles of the outdated system of production relations.

Classes and social strata, which, by their objective position in the system of production relations, are interested in the overthrow of the existing system and are capable of participating in the struggle for the victory of a more progressive system, act as the driving forces of revolution. A revolution is never the fruit of a conspiracy of individuals or arbitrary actions isolated from minority masses. It can only arise as a result of objective changes that set mass forces in motion and create a revolutionary situation.

Revolution inevitably encounters an obstacle on its way in the form of the political power of the ruling class. Therefore, the first act of social revolution is political revolution, that is, the conquest of state power by the revolutionary class. “... Every class striving for dominance,” wrote K. Marx and F. Engels, “even if its dominance determines, as is the case with the proletariat, the destruction of the entire old social form and dominance in general, must first of all win for itself political power..." (ibid., vol. 3, p. 32). The question of political state power is the main question of any R. “The transfer of state power from the hands of one class to the hands of another,” noted V.I. Lenin, “is the first, main, fundamental sign of revolution both in the strictly scientific and practical political meaning of this concept" ( Complete collection cit., 5th ed., vol. 31, p. 133).

Revolution, while historically necessary, acts at the same time as an open and most acute class struggle, which can take a wide variety of forms (armed uprising, political revolution, civil war; peaceful forms of struggle). Revolution develops in confrontation with counter-revolution. The objective needs of social progress ultimately predetermine the victory of revolution. However, at each specific stage, the outcome of the confrontation is not clear and depends on the real balance of class forces, on the maturity of the subjective factor of revolution, on the ability and readiness of the revolutionary classes and political parties to solve the problems facing them . “...Revolutionary periods,” emphasized V.I. Lenin, “are predominantly precisely such periods of history when, in relatively short periods of time, the collision of contending social forces decides the question of whether the country will choose a direct or zigzag path of development for a relatively very long time.” "(ibid., vol. 16, pp. 8-9).

In cases where mass revolutionary forces are not sufficiently organized and are not ready to solve objectively urgent revolutionary tasks, revolution can acquire an apex character [for example, the Turkish (1908) and Portuguese (1910) bourgeois revolution]. In contrast popular revolutions, in which the vast majority of the people actively and independently participate, top R. is inconsistent, half-hearted, and usually ends in a class compromise.

The founders of Marxism-Leninism resolutely opposed doctrinaire ideas according to which revolution is an automatic result of the growth of productive forces and is carried out only when objective development itself guarantees one hundred percent success without stubborn struggle, without losses, and without the risk of temporary defeats. “... In the revolution,” wrote F. Engels, “as in the war, in highest degree it is necessary at the decisive moment to put everything on the line, no matter what the chances... Undoubtedly, in any struggle, the one who picks up the gauntlet risks being defeated, but is this a reason for declaring oneself defeated from the very beginning and submitting to the yoke, not drawing the sword -" (Marx K. and Engels F., Works, 2nd ed., vol. 8, pp. 80-81). The active and selfless activity of the mass forces of R. is the decisive factor in its successful development and victory.

The question of R.'s role in social development is the subject of intense ideological struggle. Representatives of the bourgeois “sociology of revolution” argue that revolution as a form of social development is ineffective and fruitless, is associated with colossal “costs”, and is in all respects inferior to evolutionary forms of development. Following the bourgeois ideologists, the role of R. in historical process denied or downplayed by theorists of reformism and right-wing revisionism. On the other hand, representatives of petty-bourgeois leftist revolutionism deny objective laws revolutionary process and they believe that the revolutionary vanguard, the “active minority” can carry out revolution in any conditions.

Summarizing historical experience, Marxist-Leninist theory proves that revolutions are a powerful engine of social and political progress. K. Marx called revolutions “the locomotives of history” (see ibid., vol. 7, p. 86). The great historical role of R. is that they remove obstacles from the path of social progress. R. means a giant leap in social development, a transition to new, more progressive forms social life. In revolutionary eras, the pace of social development is unusually accelerated. According to V.I. Lenin, during such periods the limits of the possible expand a thousandfold. R. involves in active political activity the broadest masses of the people, who in normal times the ruling classes manage to exclude from politics. The content is enriched and the volume of social creativity increases. “Revolution,” wrote V.I. Lenin, “is a celebration of the oppressed and exploited. Never have the mass of the people been able to act as such an active creator of new social orders as during the revolution. In such times, the people are capable of miracles, from the point of view of a narrow, petty-bourgeois standard gradual progress" (Complete collection of works, 5th ed., vol. 11, p. 103).

The role of the revolutionary proletariat, which began with the Great October Socialist Revolution, has been especially great in the history of mankind. It ushered in the era of transition of human society from capitalism to socialism. See also the articles People's Democratic Revolution, National Liberation Revolution, as well as articles on individual revolutions and lit. with them.

Lit.: Marx K. and Engels F., Manifesto of the Communist Party, Works, 2nd ed., vol. 4; Marx K., Class struggle in France, ibid., vol. 7; his, Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, ibid., vol. 8; Engels F., Revolution and counter-revolution in Germany, ibid.; Marx K., Preface ["To the Critique of Political Economy"], ibid.; v. 13; Lenin V.I., Two tactics of social democracy in democratic revolution, Complete collection of works, 5th ed., vol. 11; him. The Collapse of the Second International, ibid., vol. 26; his, State and Revolution, ibid., vol. 33; him. The childhood disease of “leftism” in communism, ibid., vol. 41; Program of the CPSU, M., 1974; Documents of the Meeting of Representatives of Communist and Workers' Parties, M., 1969; Kovalev A. M., Social revolution, M., 1969; Seleznev M. A., Social revolution, M., 1971; Lenin's theory of socialist revolution and modernity, M., 1972.

Yu. A. Krasin.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what REVOLUTION (SOCIAL) is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

REVOLUTION in Quotation Wiki:
Data: 2009-06-04 Time: 02:10:29 B * The madness of the revolution was the desire to establish virtue on earth. When they want to make people kind, wise,...
SOCIAL
SPHERE - a set of industries, enterprises, organizations that are directly related and determine the way and standard of living of people, their well-being, and consumption. TO …
SOCIAL in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
REHABILITATION - see REHABILITATION...
SOCIAL in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
HELP is the care of the state and society for citizens who need help, assistance due to age, health status, social status, insufficient...
SOCIAL in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
PENSION - a state pension established for citizens who do not have a s.l. reasons for the right to a pension in connection with work and other...
SOCIAL in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
INFLATION - an increase in prices under the influence of rising costs associated with new social requirements for product quality, environmental protection...
REVOLUTION in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
PRODUCT - the process of quickly updating products, changing them...
REVOLUTION in Statements of famous people:
REVOLUTION in the Dictionary One sentence, definitions:
is a successful effort to end bad government in order to get worse. ...
REVOLUTION in Aphorisms and clever thoughts:
it is a successful effort to end bad government in order to get worse. ...
REVOLUTION in the Basic terms used in A.S. Akhiezer’s book Critique of Historical Experience:
- in contrast to rebellion, an attempt to overthrow the government that is preventing the formation of a liberal civilization, to push back, to destroy certain forms, aspects of traditional forms of life, social relations...
REVOLUTION in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(from Late Latin revolutio - turn, revolution), deep qualitative changes in the development of any phenomena of nature, society or knowledge (for example, social revolution, ...
SOCIAL
Social Psychology. - In the classification of abstract sciences created by Comte and corrected by Mill and Spencer, the place of psychology is between biology and sociology. If with …
REVOLUTION V Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Euphron:
Revolution - from lat. revolutio (movement, circulation, rotation). This is the sense in which the word was used in medieval Latin; essay by Copernicus on the conversion of the heavenly...
REVOLUTION in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(from Late Latin revolutio - turn, revolution), a profound change in the development of any phenomena of nature, society or knowledge (for example, geological, industrial, scientific and technical, ...
REVOLUTION
[French revolution] a radical, qualitative change, an abrupt transition from one qualitative state to another, from old to new; turning point, turning point...
REVOLUTION in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
and, f. 1. A radical revolution in the life of society, which leads to the elimination of the previous social and political system and the establishment of a new...
REVOLUTION in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -i, w. 1. A radical revolution in the life of society, which leads to the elimination of the previous social and political system and the establishment of ...
SOCIAL
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, sociol. concept denoting: the structure of society and its individual layers; system of signs of social differentiation; branch of sociology. In the theories of S.s. ...
SOCIAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SOCIAL REVOLUTION, see Social revolution...
SOCIAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, a branch of psychology, studies the patterns of behavior and activity of people determined by the fact of their inclusion in social groups, as well as psychology. ...
SOCIAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SOCIAL MOBILITY, a change by an individual or group of the place occupied in the social structure, movement from one social stratum (class, group) to another...
SOCIAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SOCIAL HYGIENE, a field of medicine that studies the influence of social factors on health...
SOCIAL in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY, branch of social and economics. geography, studies spaces. processes and forms of organization of people’s lives, primarily from the point of view of conditions...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1925-27 IN CHINA. It began after the events of May 30, 1925, when the English. the police shot the patriotic. demonstration in Shanghai. In the main ...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1911-13 IN CHINA, see Xinhai Revolution...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1905-07 IN RUSSIA, the first revolution in Russia. Crisis socio-political. the situation in the country worsened as a result of Russia's defeats in the Russo-Japanese war. ...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1859-60 IN ITALY, one of chap. stages of the Risorgimento. It unfolded after the defeat of Austria in the Austro-Italian-French War of 1859 and the liberation of...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1848-49 IN ITALY, one of chap. stages of the Risorgimento. At its 1st stage (Jan.-Aug. 1848), led by liberals, under ...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1848-49 IN GERMANY. 27 Feb 1848 mass people began. meetings and demonstrations in Baden. On March 18 there was a resurrection. V …
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION OF 1848-49 IN HUNGARY. Began on March 15, 1848. uprising in Pest. The production created in March canceled serfdom And …
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION 1848-49 IN AUSTRIA. March 13-14, 1848 there was a people. restore in Vienna (as a result - the resignation of K. Metternich). 17...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION OF 1848 IN FRANCE. February began with victory. revolutions of 1848. February 24. the monarchy was overthrown and created. Time production 25 Feb ...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION OF 1789-99 IN FRANCE, see French revolution 1789-99 …
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION OF THE 17TH CENTURY IN ENGLAND, see English Revolution of the 17th ...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
"PRICE REVOLUTION", a sharp increase in prices for goods due to an increase in the production of gold and other precious metals and a decrease in their...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SOCIAL REVOLUTION, a fundamental change in socio-political. a system characterized by a sharp break with the previous tradition and a violent transformation of societies. and state institutions as opposed to...
REVOLUTION in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
REVOLUTION (from Late Latin revolutio - turn, revolution), deep qualities. change in the development of k.-l. phenomena of nature, society or knowledge (for example, social ...
REVOLUTION in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
revolutions, w. (Latin revolutio - revolution). A revolution in socio-political relations, carried out by force and leading to a change in government power. || ...
REVOLUTION in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
[fr. revolution] a radical revolution, a sharp abrupt transition from one qualitative state to another, a manifestation of one of the most important patterns of dialectical development...

a method of progressive transformation of society, meaning a break in gradualism in its development, a natural leap from one qualitative state to a new one, prepared by the previous evolution of a given society. S. r. There are two types of inter-formation and intra-formation. Interformational S. r. represents a method of transition from a lower socio-economic formation to a higher one and the grandiose process of this transition itself, which occupies an entire era. History knows four main types of such revolutions: slave, feudal, bourgeois and socialist. Intraformational S. r. there is a way and process of transition of society from one qualitative state to another within the same formation, an abrupt change of stages in its development, periodic ascent to a higher level. Capitalism has gone through at least two intra-formational revolutions: pre-monopoly has grown into monopoly, and the latter into state-monopoly and is in the process of another deep transformation. To the category of intra-formational S. r. refers to the radical restructuring experienced by socialism. Any S. r. has economic, social, political and spiritual-ideological foundations. The deepest economic basis of any social system. is a conflict between increased productive forces and outdated social (primarily production) relations, when the existing orders in society cease to stimulate people to effectively use and further develop existing productive forces. The social basis of the revolution are those classes and social groups that, by their objective position in society, are interested in it, strive and are able to implement it. They are her driving forces. The political basis of the S. r. is the inability of the current system of state power and management to constructively solve objectively pressing problems. Spiritual and ideological basis of S. r. consists in the understanding by the masses of the incompatibility of their interests with the existing state of affairs. The combination of these phenomena serves as an unmistakable syndrome of the need for a radical revolutionary reorganization of society. The revolutionary nature of perestroika is evidenced by the scale and depth of the transformations that have begun in all spheres of public life. State property, which to a large extent acted as anonymous, “ownerless,” is being “denationalized.” To the extent that state property remains objectively necessary, it undergoes significant transformations. By differentiating into all-Union, republican and municipal, state property finally acquires specific and, therefore, responsible and zealous owners. Previously powerless production enterprises are now turning into property-owning, self-governing labor collectives. Along with this, revolutionary perestroika gives rise to fundamentally new types and forms of property, unthinkable under the conditions of the undivided dominance of the administrative-command system. On their basis, socio-economic strata of cooperators, tenants, shareholders, family and individual owners, and all sorts of their associations are formed, which transforms the social structure of society beyond recognition. Various public organizations and movements are growing. Under the influence of all these new formations, dramatic changes occur in political system society: it turns into a system of real democracy. In the spiritual and ideological sphere, the changes are so striking that they have led to new thinking. The correspondence of the subjective factor to objective conditions is the basic law of social justice. The role of the subjective factor is both to not miss the chance of implementing social revolution, based on the most adequate knowledge of objective conditions, when the objective prerequisites for it are fully ripe, and to warn the masses against revolution if such prerequisites do not yet exist. Before they mature, S. r. adventurous, destructive, catastrophic. Stalinism completely ignored the question of the cost of revolution. Meanwhile, this is the most important question that determines its success or failure. Price S.r. must always be immeasurably less than the deprivations from which it relieves the masses. Otherwise, the revolution will inevitably encounter their own resistance and drown in blood. The optimal course of social reform is when the maturation of objective conditions for qualitative changes in society, the awareness of these conditions, and the very implementation of the overdue changes proceed in a single rhythm. Synchronization is ensured by revolutionary reforms. Revolutionary reforms differ from ordinary reforms as partial, insignificant transformations of certain aspects of social life on the initiative and in the interests of predominantly the ruling circles in that they affect society as a whole, in its foundations, are carried out in the form of a package of major measures of a fundamental nature and are implemented under the influence of decisive and organized, purposeful movement of the masses. Such reforms, being in the content of social reforms, exclude armed forms of resolving social contradictions. Moreover, revolutions-reformations do not necessarily imply violence on a mass scale, even in peaceful forms. Understanding the universal harmfulness of rampant violence in any form serves as a deterrent to it. When resolving the most acute conflicts between the “tops” and the “bottoms,” various social groups resort not to violence, but to social compromise. Real experience of this kind, although far from being consistent and perfect in everything, has been accumulated by the Social Democratic labor movement. K. Marx foresaw the coming of a time when “social evolutions will cease to be political revolutions” (K. Marx, F. Engels // Works, 2nd ed. T. 4. P. 185), referring it to communist society. This time has come earlier. However, S. r. through radical reforms are not possible in all modern societies, but only in democratically structured ones. In totalitarian societies, S. r. are still doomed to take place in the form of explosions and cataclysms. S. r. K. Marx called them locomotives of history. The acceleration of social development in the process of revolutions occurs for two main reasons. Firstly, revolutions solve not ordinary, but major, historically urgent tasks of a turning point nature. Secondly, in solving these epochal problems directly actor the masses of the people are speaking out, whose creative activity incomparable with any other force both in the destruction of outdated social orders and in the creation of new ones. On Wednesday. there is a coincidence of a radical change in life circumstances with a radical change in the people themselves. Therefore, the revolution creates people to the same extent that people create the revolution.