1st Edition
A Political Sociology of Twenty-First Century Revolutions and Resistances From the Arab World and Iran to Africa, Ukraine and France
This book examines the possibilities – and realities – of positive, humanist change and revolution that have burst forth in the first decades of this century.
Kevin B. Anderson critically examines the revolutions, uprisings, social movements, and forms of national resistance that have arisen across the Middle East and North Africa, Sudan, South Africa, Ukraine, and France in the past fifteen years, providing a salient snapshot of geopolitical and social events. The book represents an effort to analyze world events, especially revolutions and radical movements, in a dialectical manner, combining contemporary analysis of the class, gender, and ethnic dimensions of these upheavals with theoretical and historical reflection that engages Hegel, Marx, Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, CLR James, Raya Dunayevskaya, and other thinkers in the Marxian tradition.
A Political Sociology of Twenty-First Century Revolutions and Resistances is an important resource for researchers, as well as a key text for courses in social change, political sociology, and social movements, and contemporary social theory.
Introduction
1. The Arab Revolutions I: Breakout
2. The Arab Revolutions II: Under Attack
3. The Arab Revolutions III: New Elements Amid Deep Setbacks
4. The Arab Revolutions IV: Defeat and Glimmers of Resurgence
5. Iran on the Verge
6. Ferment in Africa: Sudan’s Revolution and South Africa after Marikana
7. Ukraine and Palestine: Fighting for National Existence
8. France in Turmoil, from the Yellow Vests to the 2023 Mass Strikes and Anti-Police Uprising
Appendix 1. To the Arab Readers of Marx at the Margins
Appendix 2. Two Dialectical Anniversaries, Lukács and Dunayevskaya
Biography
Kevin B. Anderson is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a multi-award winning author for works on Marxism, Foucault, and Middle Eastern social studies. He is the author of numerous books, including Lenin, Hegel, and Western Marxism: A Critical Study (second ed., 2022), and Marx at the Margins (2016), Foucault and the Iranian Revolution (with J. Afary, 2005), and the forthcoming Mapping the Late Marx.
Kevin B. Anderson has not contented himself with discussions of revolutionary theory and philosophy over the years. He has also closely monitored real revolutionary processes unfolding in various parts of the world – especially those parts most familiar to him: the Middle East and North Africa as well as France – analysing them in the light of his theoretical views. His reflections on key revolutionary events and debates of the past fifteen years provide the reader with much food for thought.
Gilbert Achcar, Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford, and author of The New Cold War (2023) and The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising (2nd ed., 2022).
Kevin B. Anderson’s book is a masterwork of socio-political theorizing, which analyzes developments in Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Sudan, South Africa, and France. His insights are guided by a profound grasp of Marx, Lenin, Dunayevskaya and other leading contributors to socio-political thought. He rejects the campist ideological frameworks fostered by Stalinism that are still in operation today, including those partisans of the left who strongly support Palestine but not Ukraine, and those liberals who reverse this, supporting Ukraine but not Palestine. He gives attention to both regime repression and the dialectics of counter-revolution within the revolution in Syria. Written in a clear-headed prose with flashes of coruscating insight, Anderson’s book provides the groundwork for a renewed hope to all those who are attempting to gain a clear vision of what options and opportunities exist for creating a socialist/humanist alternative.
Peter McLaren, emeritus professor, UCLA and author of Che Guevara, Paulo Freire, and the Pedagogy of Revolution
For decades, Kevin B. Anderson has been a first-rate scholar of the sociology of revolution and his study is extremely timely, as I know of no other such book advocating revolutionary hope in a period dominated by more pessimistic analyses of assaults on democracy and the rise of various movements of authoritarian populism and fascism. Prof. Anderson is an expert on the Arab world, Europe, and Russia from the perspective of a sociology of globalization and revolution and is well-qualified to undertake this important and highly relevant topic.
Douglas Kellner, George Kneller Chair, UCLA and author of Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics in the Contemporary Moment (2nd ed., Routledge, 2020)
This lively book may be summarised as: how a Marxist humanist confronts the disintegrating post-war order. Kevin B. Anderson’s writing is, throughout, informed by the consistent methodology of Marxist humanism, of which he is globally authoritative exponent. The book directly challenges a worldview increasingly common, that “class” is not a valid framework for understanding the events of revolt, revolution, and resistance. The synthesis of events even now unfolding ensure a relevance and timeliness, and the broad humanist vision at the core will provide a long shelf-life to this work.
Paul Mason, journalist, filmmaker, activist, and author of How to Stop Fascism (2021) and Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future (2015)
In an era of dominant neoliberalism, imperialist expansionism and the upsurge of extreme right and religious fundamentalisms, attentions are primarily focused on their devastating impact on humanity and the planet, rather than the movements of resistance and revolt. Kevin B. Anderson’s valuable and timely collection of articles presents an insightful focus on such movements in different parts of the world, reviving hopes of successful resistance to these terrible maladies of our time.
Saeed Rahnema, York University, Canada
