Revolutionary moments: reading revolutionary texts

"Since at least the mid-seventeenth century, the concept of revolution has been an important tool both for those seeking to bring about political change and for those trying to understand it. And it is as relevant today as it has ever been. This volume re-evaluates our understanding of the history of revolutionary thought by examining a selection of key texts. These range from the 17th to the 20th century, and are carefully chosen to include both constitutional documents and theoretical works by figures such as James Harrington, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Maximilian Robespierre, Peter Kropotkin and Deng Xiaoping Each chapter engages with a particular revolutionary moment via a specific text, usually an extract of around 300 words, and considers the significance of the text for the history of revolutionary thought. The structure of the book allows readers to make connections and comparisons across the different revolutionary texts and moments, thereby providing a broader, deeper and more nuanced understanding of revolutions. Stimulating, accessible and interdisciplinary, Revolutionary Moments will appeal to students and researchers in the history of political thought and intellectual history, and beyond."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

From Native Rights to Natural Equality : The Agreement of the People (1647) / Rachel Foxley -- James Harrington, The Commonwealth of Oceana and a Revolution in the Language of Politics / Rachel Hammersley -- Revolution Principles / Mark Knights -- A revolution menagee' : Mably's Des Droits et des devoirs du citoyen / Kent Wright -- Rousseau and Revolutions / Richard Whatmore -- Exclusion at the Founding : The Declaration of Independence / Robert Parkinson -- Securing Liberty : The Federalist Papers / T. G. Rodgers -- Revolution, Reform and the Political Thought of Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes / Michael Sonenscher -- The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, August 1789 : A Revolutionary Document / Lynn Hunt -- Paine's Rights of Man and the Religiosity of Rights Doctrines / Gregory Claeys -- Virtue and Terror : Maximilien Robespierre on the Principles of the French Revolution / Marisa Linton -- The Haitian Declaration of Independence : Recognition, Freedom and Anti-French Sentiment / Julia Gaffield -- A Lesson in Revolution : Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto / Julian Wright -- From National Backwardness to Revolutionary Leadership : Alexander Herzen's Book On the Development of Revolutionary Ideas in Russia / Derek Offord -- George Plekhanov and the Marxist Turn in Russia / Christopher Read -- Ordinary Miracles : Lenin's Call for Revolutionary Ambition / Lars T. Lih -- Revolution and Evolution : Kropotkin's Anarchism / George Crowder -- Revolutionary Cultivation : Liu Shaoqi's How to be a Good Communist (1939) and the Rejection of Confucian Tradition / Jonathan J. Howlett -- Between Socialist Futures : Mao Zedong on the 'Ten Major Relationships' / Daniel Leese -- Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth : Embodying Anti-Colonial Action / Xavier Guegan -- Social Imperialism and Mao's Three Worlds : Deng Xiaoping's Speech at the UN General Assembly, 1974 / Jennifer E. Altehenger.