Publisher's Synopsis
This book is a collection of essays from the scholarly literature on the causes and characteristics of political revolutions of modernity. The editor?s introductory chapter emphasizes increasing political mobilization and above all, the acceleration of interactive changes in the fundamental context of politics ? social, economic and cultural ? as a precursor to increasingly volatile world environments. - - Twenty-five contributions by distinguished social scientists, from the 1960?s to the 1990?s, analyze the problems of political upheaval from different conceptual and ideological perspectives. The topics addressed in this book include the linkages between revolution and modernity in several theoretical perspectives; the apparent cause of revolution in a number of particular modern settings; the motives and incentives of those who engage in revolutionary activities; the recruitment of revolutionists; the balance between 'stability' and 'instability', with special emphasis on Africa and the Middle East; the dramatic fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. ; and prospects for future conflicts and upheavals.
