On the reasons and meaning of revolutions (Nikolai rozov's version)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the question of the laws of the revolutionary process, which is considered in Nikolai Rozov's new book, Causes, Dynamics and Meaning of Revolutions. Rozov proposed a new definition of social revolution, which significantly expands the definitions proposed earlier by Teda Skocpol and Jack Goldstone. In particular, this definition allows unfinished and unsuccessful revolutions to be considered; for example, the Russian revolution of 1905 or the European revolutions of 1848 are discussed. Rosov's definition is convenient, as historians traditionally call these social crises "revolutions". However, on the other hand, this definition significantly expands the class of the objects under consideration, and this creates new difficulties in the search for common laws. Rosov points to one of these patterns, but in the case of a specific interpretation for the February revolution in Russia, it turns out to be uninformative. © Editorial Board Polis (Political Studies).