Centre for the Study of Modern and Contemporary History
Centre for the Study of Modern and Contemporary History
School of History, Classics & Archaeology
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Revolution (2019-20)

Our theme for the academic year 2019-20 was 'Revolution'

Women protesting during the Iranian Revolution in 1979
Women protesting during the Iranian Revolution in 1979

Revolution is one of the most popular themes in modern historiography. There are good reasons for this. Processes of radical - often violent - political change continue to fascinate students and scholars alike. The thrill and terror of the French or Russian Revolutions still inspire awe and disgust in equal measure. It is partly this emotional charge that makes revolutions rich and complex historical topics. We explored a variety of revolutions that have taken place across the world and showcased the exciting range of work that is being done in this vital field. 

Our activities addressed some of the following themes:

  • Definitions of revolution
  • The causes of revolution
  • Political violence and revolutionary imaginations
  • Revolutions and the Marxist/socialist tradition
  • Counter-revolutions
  • The contested memory of revolution
  • Social processes as revolutionary processes (eg. the Industrial Revolution, the Sexual Revolution)
  • Revolutionaries and their worldviews
  • Global, national and regional revolutions 
  • The representation of revolutions in the arts and popular culture

Events and Activities

You can read more about the events and activities held this year through the following blog posts:

Revolutions past and future: a roundtable (20 September 2019)

Malika Rahal on the Algerian Revolution of 1962 (6 October 2019)

Paolo Gerbaudo on politics and the social media revolution (20 October 2019)

CSMCH Discussion Group on Spanish history and politics (1 November 2019)

Julia Nicholls on the French revolutionary tradition (4 November 2019)

Jay Winter on war, memory and silence (10 November 2019)

Julie Gibbings on affective politics and Guatemala’s 1944 revolution (17 November 2019)

Courtney Campbell on women revolutionaries in Brazil (15 January 2020)

Sarah Badcock on Russia’s revolutions from a provincial perspective (29 January 2020)

Kristoff Kerl on ecstasy, cultural revolution and counterculture in the 1960s-1970s (17 February 2020)

Teach-out on indigenous movements and revolutionary politics in Latin America (9 March 2020)

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