Synopsis
Between 1979 and 1986 Iran, Nicaragua, and the Philippines underwent dramatic political and social revolutions. This book examines the conditions and processes that gave rise to revolutions and their outcomes, through an in-depth analysis of economic and political developments in these countries. The author also analyzes the impact of the collective actions and ideologies of the major social groups involved--students, clergy, workers, and capitalists. His book provides a valuable new framework within which to understand the causes of revolutions, their mechanics and development, and their outcomes.
Review
"Make room on your bookshelf next to Skocpol, Tilly, and Goldstone. Misagh Parsa's new book is a major contribution to the comparative and historical study of revolutions. Along with works by Paige and Wickham-Crowley, this book ranks among the very best analyses of revolutions in developing or Third World societies. It will interest a broad audience of scholars interested in revolutions, collective action, and political sociology generally." Jeff Goodwin, American Journal of Sociology
"Parsa examines an interesting group of cases occupying similar positions in the international system by way of significant US support, with enough variation in economic and social structure to allow him to get a great deal of mileage out of his variables. The scholarship here is strong. His command of the expansive literature on revolutions is superb, while the empirical evidence draws upon years of primary and secondary source research. This is complex, thick historical sociology at its best." Jonathan Acuff, University of Washington, for the Electronic Newsletter of the European Consortium for Political Research
"Parsa offers a fine combination of careful, nuanced empirical case studies and theoretical propositions regarding key factors omitted from structural theories of revolution. Along with other recent work influenced by the "new institutionalism," this volume points the way towards a new and richer synthesis of structure and agency in our understanding of revolutions and revolutionary processes." Jack A. Goldstone, University of California, Davis
"Parsa's approach, considering both structural and political mobilization features, reveals him to be a skillful fourth generation analyst of revolutions. . . . His book is firmly grounded in primary data, uses a mixture of conceptual models, and pays careful and unbiased attention to the political-agentic." Contemporary Sociology
"...a welcome arrival...Misagh Parsa's study of revolutions and revolutionary theory should find a place in a variety of advanced comparative politics courses. It is a well-conceived and executed analysis that will engage students with its detailed descriptions of political change and its attention to theory building." Canadian Journal of Political Science
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