Arab Spring, Indignant, hacktivists, the revolution is on the rise. But what does this term now cover? ? Historians, philosophers and observers of current social movements give their point of view.
Is the revolution emerging from the oblivion of history? ? The word, reactivated since 2010 by the “ arab spring » and the Indignés movement, used to describe the actions of hacktivists, apparently sees its use both expanded and displaced. Long associated with totalitarianism, revolution is coming back into favor in commentary on more recent social movements. If doubts are expressed, they relate less to the democratic nature of these movements than to their abilities to fully achieve their objectives. As if the demand for a government of the people by the people was no longer threatened by the revolutionary dynamic itself, but by the strength of its opponents, and that it was once again becoming a positive engine of historical change.
What does this new optimistic vision of “ there » revolution, most often referred to in the singular ? What exactly is this change in perspective and what is it a symptom of? ? To answer these questions, La Vie des Idées invited historians and philosophers, more or less close observers of recent social movements, to reflect on the current representations and practices of revolutions.
– Leyla Dakhli, “ A revolution betrayed ? On the Tunisian uprising and the democratic transition », Tuesday February 19.
– Jean-Clément Martin, “ Revolutionary polysemy. Breakup, crisis and unforeseen events », Tuesday March 5.
– Interview with Yves Citton and Myriam Revault d’Allonnes, “ Revolution and crisis of temporality », Tuesday March 12.
– José Luis Moreno Pestaña, “ Life and death of an assembly », Monday March 25.
– Guillaume Mazeau, “ The round of revolutions », Tuesday April 16.
– Charles Walton, Revolution and redistribution, reflections on France and Egypt », Tuesday April 23.
And also on La Vie des Idées:
– Gabriel Entin and Jeanne Moisand, Debates around the 15M
– Benoît Roger, the Netherlands in revolution
– Leila Vignal, Syria, anatomy of a revolution
– Jacques Guilhaumou, People’s speech under the revolution
– Emmanuel Fureix, The French Revolution and the cult of the dead