"States and Social Revolutions"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, in the book "States and Social Revolutions", Theda Skocpol, a sociologist and political scientist at Harvard University, presents her own ideas about why political revolutions occur in some countries but not in others. It looks at how she analyzes the social revolutions that took place in France, China and Russia to determine similarities and how she hypothesizes that these three nations experienced uprisings because they all were in the same dire straights at critical points in their respective histories.

From the Paper:

"Skocpal explains that the revolutionary crises resulted at the time when the old regimes were no longer able to confront the challenges of the rapid changes within them as well as in the world at large. France, Russia and China had been able to thrive because of the autocratic monarchies that maintained a social order and dealt with external threats, such as the English, Japanese and Prussians. In addition, the three nation states had advanced military and administrative structures along with varying bureaucratic functioning. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kimmel, Michael. "States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. by Theda Skocpol." The American Journal of Sociology. 86 No.5 (1981): 1145-1154
• Kumar, Krishan. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China by Theda Skocpol" The British Journal of Sociology. 31, no. 2 (1980): 310-311.
• Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979
• Yaney, George. "States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China." Slavic Review. 39 no. 3, (1980): 496-499

More papers on "States and Social Revolutions":

• Analytical Essay # 132399 : "Physics and the French and Russian Revolutions"
• Case Study # 9344 : "Social Revolutions"
• Comparison Essay # 98846 : "The Enlightenment and the Reformation"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: