Revolutionary Emotions

Autorentext

Silvana Toska is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Davidson College. Dr. Toska studies political psychology, revolutionary waves, the role of emotions in decision-making, and international relations of the Middle East. She has conducted extensive field research in the region and has written on the Arab Uprisings and Political Islam in the Middle East.

Klappentext

For centuries, revolutionaries have spoken of the emotional arousal that motivated them to revolt. Studies of revolutions, however, rarely give these emotional narratives the power that actors themselves recount. This book argues that revolutionary waves, from 1848 to the present, cannot be explained without the emotions that motivated potential revolutionaries to imitate revolts in neighboring states. The shared identity of revolutionaries across borders leads to a shared emotional arousal and adoption of protest frames and methods. By grounding the theory in revolutionaries' emotional narratives and breaking down the dichotomies that plague revolution research-structure/agency, domestic/ international--Revolutionary Emotions provides a powerful new theory of revolutionary diffusion and success.

Inhalt

• Introduction: Revolutionaries without Borders: Patterns in the Study and Practice of Revolutions

• Chapter 1: Theory: Sense and Sensibility: Emotions and Revolutionary Diffusion

• Chapter 2: Why Revolts Spread and Often Succeed

• Chapter 3: Bringing Identity Back in the "Arab Uprisings": Identity and Revolutionary Waves in the Middle East

• Chapter 4: The People Overthrew the Regimes: Egypt and Yemen

• Chapter 5: Syria and Saudi Arabia: Divide and Conquer or Buy and Co-opt

• Conclusion: The 1848 Revolutions, and Nonspread of the Iranian Revolutions