We Cannot Escape History: States and Revolutions

by Neil Davidson

Overview

Neil Davidson explores classic themes of nation, state, and revolution in this collection of essays. Ranging from the extent to which nationalism can be a component of led-wing politics to the difference between bourgeois and socialist revolutions, the book concludes with an extended discussion of the different meanings history has for conservatives, radicals, and Marxists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608464678
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	07/21/2015
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Neil Davidson: Neil Davidson is the author of The Origins of Scottish Nationhood (2000), Discovering the Scottish Revolution (2003), for which he was awarded the Deutscher Prize, and How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions? (2012). Davidson lectures in Sociology in the School of Political and Social Science at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions? 1

2 Asiatic, Tributary, or Absolutist? A Comment on Chris Harman's "The Rise of Capitalism" 57

3 Centuries of Transition: Chris Wickham on the Feudal Revolution 67

4 Scotland: Birthplace of Passive Revolution? 85

5 The French Revolution Is Not Over: Henry Heller on France, 1789-1815 103

6 The American Civil War Considered as a Bourgeois Revolution 121

7 When History Failed to Turn: Pierre Broué on the German Revolution 149

8 From Uneven to Combined Development 155

9 China: Unevenness, Combination, Revolution? 175

10 Third World Revolution 189

11 From Deflected Permanent Revolution to the Law of Uneven and Combined Development 203

12 Revolutions between Theory and History: A Reply to Alex Callinicos and Donny Gluckstein 217

Afterword: We Cannot Escape History 233

Notes 243

Editorial Reviews

Praise for How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions?:

"I was frankly pole-axed by this magnificent book. Davidson resets the entire debate on the character of revolutions: bourgeois, democratic, and socialist. He's sending me, at least, back to the library."
—Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums

"This is, quite simply, the finest book of its kind."
—Tony McKenna, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

Praise for Holding Fast to an Image of the Past: Essays on Marxism and History:

This is Neil Davidson at his very best. In a sparkling set of essays, Davidson offers a conceptually sophisticated and historically wide-ranging analysis of the work of classical and contemporary political thinkers. . . . In terms of its depth of learning it stands in comparison with Perry Anderson's Zone of Engagement. An essential read.
—Satnam Virdee, professor of Sociology at the University of Glasgow

Holding Fast to an Image of the Past is illuminating, authoritative, and sometimes very funny . . . this new collection fruitfully combines wide-ranging erudition with vivid vignettes."
—Bridget Fowler, emeritus professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow


Praise for How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions?:

"I was frankly pole-axed by this magnificent book. Davidson resets the entire debate on the character of revolutions: bourgeois, democratic, and socialist. He's sending me, at least, back to the library."
—Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums

"This is, quite simply, the finest book of its kind."
—Tony McKenna, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

Praise for Holding Fast to an Image of the Past: Essays on Marxism and History:

This is Neil Davidson at his very best. In a sparkling set of essays, Davidson offers a conceptually sophisticated and historically wide-ranging analysis of the work of classical and contemporary political thinkers. . . . In terms of its depth of learning it stands in comparison with Perry Anderson's Zone of Engagement. An essential read.
—Satnam Virdee, professor of Sociology at the University of Glasgow

Holding Fast to an Image of the Past is illuminating, authoritative, and sometimes very funny . . . this new collection fruitfully combines wide-ranging erudition with vivid vignettes."
—Bridget Fowler, emeritus professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow

From the Publisher