Revolution and Violence. Defense of Historical Approach to Russian Revolution Appraisal

The paper discusses the role of violence in revolution in general and in Russian revolution, in particular. The author shows inability of rationalistic tradition to adequately estimate revolution as far as it insists that reason is incompatible with violence. The problem of revolution can be really grasped only if it is treated politically, that is, viewed as a historical phenomenon. In this case political violence may be presented as a unique way of interrupting the former historical logic – an act which forecloses determination of the future by the past. The violence intensivity and scope, being the function of a singular social situation, depends on many factors: sharpness of contradictions, polarization of political forces, the degree of grass-root revolutionaries involvement, people mentality, etc. The range of violence triggered by October revolution was determined, inter alia, by the fact that grass-roots revolution has mutated into a “revolution from above” as soon as the “party state” attempted to attain economic and social progress through total suppression of the way of life which was enjoyed as normal by millions of people. Thus, the violence exercised by the political power structures over the people at large gave rise to a totalitarian regime.

Keywords

Capitalism, socialism, civilization, revolution, state, Bolshevism, political parties, proletariat, peasantry, terror, political regime, the catching-up development, contingency, necessity, culture, way of life, totalitarianism, historical choice

Received

15.09.2020

Publication date

17.02.2017

Number of characters

1056

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GOST	Pantin I. Revolution and Violence. Defense of Historical Approach to Russian Revolution Appraisal // Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost – 2017. – Issue 1 C. 140-155 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://ons-journal.ru/S086904990011568-6-1 (circulation date: 27.04.2024).
MLA	Pantin, Igor "Revolution and Violence. Defense of Historical Approach to Russian Revolution Appraisal." Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost 1 (2017):140-155.
APA	Pantin I. (2017). Revolution and Violence. Defense of Historical Approach to Russian Revolution Appraisal. Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost (1), pp.140-155

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