LYFORD EDWARDS’ THEORY OF REVOLUTION IN THE CONTEXT OF 19TH - EARLY 20TH CENTURY SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of key provisions of the theory of revolution of the American historian and sociologist Layford Edwards. The purpose is not just to give an account of the concept of the author, who had an impact on the general development of theoretical studying of the phenomenon of revolutions, but to emphasize certain provisions and ideas which had a long history of genesis and development, and were popular among researchers. It’s important that some of them are rather influential up till now. In the article special attention is paid to the context in which scientific approaches of L. Edwards’ theory of revolution were formed. L. Edwards’s work relied on the sesquicentennial history of studying of the English, American and French revolutions and also on the century tradition of the research thought in the field of “the theory of revolution” as an independent direction of scientific thought. The author analyses in Edwards’s concept the problem of defining the concept of revolution, the reasons for this phenomenon, its social base, and ideology. The terror in revolutions is scrutinized both independently, and in the context of historical environment and development of the theory of revolution. Considering the fact that a number of theoretical provisions have significant effect on contemporary concepts and approaches, their analysis is useful not only in terms of studying the history of science, but also to a more detailed understanding of today’s condition of sociology of revolution.

Keywords

• theory of revolution
• sociology of revolution
• P. Sorokin
• C. Brinton
• A. Tocqueville
• J-curve