The Age of Revolution. Political Modernity and its Discontent, 1789-Present

This course examines revolution as a catalyst for social and cultural changes and the engine of political modernization from 1789 to the present. Envisioned as a global history course, we will cover a wide range of topics and events in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asian, such as: the American and the French revolutions in the late eighteenth century; 1848 as the year of political upheavals in Europe, the Paris Commune of 1871; the Russian Revolution of 1905; the Mexican Revolution in the early twentieth century; the Bolshevik takeover of power in 1917; social discontents and political upheavals in Central Europe in 1918/1919; anarchism in Spain in the interwar period; the Cuban Revolution; decolonization in Africa and Asia in the 1950s and 1960s; the Nicaraguan and Islamic revolutions in the 1970s and 1980s, and the Arab Spring in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and last but not least the radical movement in the West, such as the student movement in the 1960s, the peace movement of the 1980s and progressive environmentalism ( Fridays for the Future) in the couple of years.

In the first two sessions we will examine the political theories about the origins, meaning and consequences of revolutions (Arendt, Barrington Moore, Skocpol, Sewell, Goldstone, Collins, Negri-Hardt és Laclau-Mouffe). Then we turn to concrete events to test the validity and explain the shortcomings of these political theories. The course analyses the social and economic contexts in which revolutions have occurred, as well as the cultural dimension of major political upheavals: the spread of information about rebellions; the borrowing of revolutionary ideas, ideologies, political strategies tactics, the role of foreign states and actors in igniting, sustaining or defeating armed rebellions. The course pays special attention to political rhetoric and propaganda, as well as to the role of ethnic minorities, women and young people in political events. Finally, it examines the role of historians, political personalities, public intellectuals and public institutions, such as schools and museums, schools, etc in the formation, perpetuation (or the destruction) of the memory of the revolution.

This is a bilingual course. The debate will be conducted in either in German or English, but students can do their presentation and in their native language.