DIY Revolution

[Cain]

One of the better things about the Iranian disturbances of the moment is that all the literature on revolutionary theory and practice are being dragged out of the bookcases and re-examined, to see how likely anything is to happen there.  In other words, enough people are looking through the material to save me time and effort when it comes to getting all the data together and deciding what looks like it works.

Anyway, since revolutions are a pet topic of mine I haven't touched on in a while, I thought I should present Theda Skocpol's thought on the topic.  Her book is (partially) on Google Books, somewhere, but I'll present the salient quotes here, instead.

I have stressed, following Charles Tilly, that mass, lower-class participants in revolution cannot turn discontent into effective political action without autonomous collective organization and resources to sustain their efforts. Moreover, the repressive state organizations of the prerevolutionary regime have to be weakened before mass revolutionary action can succeed, or even emerge. Indeed, historically, mass rebellious action has not be able, in itself, to overcome state repression. Instead, military pressures from abroad , often accompanied by political splits between dominant classes and the state, have been necessary to undermine repression and open the way for social-revolutionary upheavals from below. In my view, social revolutions have not been caused by avowedly revolutionary movements in which an ideological leadership mobilizes mass support to overthrow an existing system in the name of a new alternative...

Also

Even when a revolution is to a significant degree 'made,' that is because a culture conducive to challenges to authority, as well as politically relevant networks of popular communication , are already historically woven into the fabric of social life. In an of themselves, the culture and networks of communication do not dictate mass revolutionary action. But if a historical conjuncture arises in which a vulnerable state faces oppositionally inclined social groups possessing solidarity, autonomy, and independent economic resources, then the sorts of moral symbols and forms of social communication offered by Shi'a Islam in Iran can sustain the self-conscious making of a revolution. No innovative revolutionary propaganda retailed to 'the masses' overnight, in the midst of a societal crisis, can serve this purpose. But a world-view and a set of social practices long in place can sustain a deliberate revolutionary movement.

[LMNO]

So, from this perspective, Iran's fucked?

[Cain]

Pretty much.

But if you want to start your own revolution, its good to know these things.

[LMNO]

well, I finally got back to "Mass Psychology of Fascism", after taking a four book break that ended in the worst anti-climax EVER, and there's some choice quotes about revolution that I'll compile later, unless that bitch publishes a fifth book.

"In reality, the epoch is past during which it seemed as if masses of people were to rise of their own strength, guided by reason and insight into their own position. In reality, there is no longer any society-forming function left for the masses.  They have shown themselves to be completely malleble, unconscious, capable of adapting to any kind of power or infamy."

[Cain]

She says she wont, because 12 chapters of Midnight Sun (available on request) were leaked onto the internet, somehow.  Personally I just think she is attention whoring by threatening to pull the book.

BTW, its essentially the first book, told from Edward's POV.  Well, I say essentially, it is exactly that.  So you can probably skip it.

Apparently, Meyers does write passable sci-fi/horror books.  Nothing brilliant, but not this mind-numbingly bad, I am informed.

[LMNO]

Added a Reich quote, just to stay on OP message.