Hist 413
Spring 2004
Tuesday and Thursday
12:30-13:45 SOS Z16
Yonca Köksal
Office Hours: SOS 231 T.Th. 14:00-15:00
E-mail: ykoksal@ku.edu.tr
Ext: 338 1710
HIST 413- Comparative Study of Revolutions
Why do individuals rebel? What is a revolution and what causes it? What do revolutions mean
to those involved in them? What do social revolutions change? What processes follow in the
aftermath of a revolution?
In answering these questions, we will discuss several theories of revolution and compare
cases around the world. Historical revolutions as well as contemporary cases will be analyzed
in a comparative perspective.
Course Requirements and Grading:
Grading will be as follows:
Participation: 10%
Assignments: 25%
Mid-term exam: 30%
Final Exam: 35%
Students are expected to come to class having done the readings. Two assignments (5-6 pages
each) will be completed in the given weeks. The assignments will be student projects that will
include analysis of a revolution depending on class readings. You can choose from the cases
we discuss in the class or you can decide to study another revolution.
In the examinations students will be responsible for material covered in both the lectures and
the readings.
It is required that students do not miss the exams (in the case of illness, a valid medical excuse
has to be submitted within 3 days of absence).
Attendance:
The general catalogue of the university states: “Students are required to attend all classes” (p.
36). If you miss more than 1/3 of classes, you may fail the course.
Academic Honesty:
Please refer to p. 37 of the general catalogue.
Assigned Readings are available in the Library Reserves.
Tentative Reading List
PART I- METHODS AND THEORY
Week 1- Feb 17-19
What is a Revolution? Definitions and Concepts
James Defranzo “Social Movements and Revolutions” in Revolutions and Revolutionary
Movements, pp. 7-29.
Week 2- Feb 24-26
Classical Theories on Revolutions
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto, ed. John E. Toews, Bedford/St.
Martin´s, 1999, pp. 63-85.
Max Weber, “Structures of Power,” in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, pp. 159-187,
245-251.
Hist 413
Spring 2004
Tuesday and Thursday
12:30-13:45 SOS Z16
Yonca Köksal
Office Hours: SOS 231 T.Th. 14:00-15:00
E-mail: ykoksal@ku.edu.tr
Ext: 338 1710
Week 3- March 2- 4
The Method and Work
Theda Skocpol, “France, Russia and China: A structural analysis of Social Revolutions,” in
Social Revolutions in the Modern World, pp. 72-99 and 133-169.
Week 4- March 9-11
Revolutions and Modernization
Theda Skocpol and Ellen Kay Trimberger “Revolutions and the World-historical
Development of Capitalism,” in Social Revolutions in the Modern World, 120-132.
Jack Goldstone, “An Analytical Framework,” in Revolutions of the Late Twentieth Century,
(eds.) J. Goldstone, T.R. Gurr and F: Moshiri, Westview Press, 1991, pp. 37-52.
Week 5- March 16-18
Culture and Ideology
William Sewell “Ideologies and social Revolutions: Reflections on the French Case,” in
Social Revolutions in the Modern World pp. 169-198.
Theda Skocpol “Cultural Idioms and Political Ideologies in the Revolutionary construction of
State Power: A rejoinder to Sewell,” in Social Revolutions in the Modern World 199-213.
Week 6- March 23-25
Origins of Revolutions
Charles Tilly, “Conflict, Revolt and Revolution” and “Transformations in Europe” in
European Revolutions, 1492-1992, Blackwell, pp. 1-51.
Week 7- March 30- April 1
Revolutionary Outcomes and Predictions
Jack Goldstone, “Predicting Revolutions: Why We Could (and should) Have Foreseen the
Revolutions of 1989-1991 in the USSR and Eastern Europe,” in Debating Revolutions, ed. N.
Keddie, New York University Press, 1995, pp. 39-65.
FIRST ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE.
PART II- COMPARATIVE STUDY OF REVOLUTIONS
Week 8- April 6-8
American Revolution
Colin Bonwick, “The American Revolution: 1763-91,” in Revolutions and the Revolutionary
Tradition in the West 1560-1991, eds. D. Parker, Routledge, 2000, pp. 68-87.
Alexis de Tocqueville, “Principle Causes Which Tend to Maintain the Democratic Republic
in the US,” in Democracy in America, pp. 288-308 and 319-331.
Week 9- April 13-15
French Revolution
Gwynne Lewis. “The French Revolution 1789-99,” in Revolutions and Revolutionary
Tradition in the West 1560-1991, (ed.) D. Parker, Routledge, 2000, pp. 88-108.
Week 10- April 27- 29
Russian Revolution
Hist 413
Spring 2004
Tuesday and Thursday
12:30-13:45 SOS Z16
Yonca Köksal
Office Hours: SOS 231 T.Th. 14:00-15:00
E-mail: ykoksal@ku.edu.tr
Ext: 338 1710
James Defronzo, “Russian Revolutions and Eastern Europe,” in Revolutions and
Revolutionary Movements, Westview Press, 1996, pp. 29-70.
Week 11- May 4-6
Revolution in China
James Defronzo, “Revolution in China” in Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements,
Westview Press, 1996, pp.73-119.
Week 12- May 11-13
Revolution in Latin America
James Defranzo “The Cuban Revolution” in Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements,
Westview Press, 1996, pp. 167-205.
SECOND ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE.
Week 13- May 18-20
Iranian Revolution
Fred Halliday, “Iranian Revolution in a Comparative Perspective” in Islam and the Myth of
Confrontation, Religion and Politics in the Middle East, I.B.Tauris, 1996, pp.42-75.
Nikki Keddie, “Can Revolutions be Predicted; Can Their Causes Be Understood?” in
Debating Revolutions, ed. N. Keddie, New York University Press, 1995, pp. 3-27.
Week 14- May 25-27
Review and Conclusion