Is the Fifth Generation of Revolution Studies Still Coming?

Abstract

Introduction-Why Have We Chosen the Generational Aspect?Recently, several significant studies have been published on revolutions, various aspects of the theory of revolution, and revolutions of recent times-the 21st century. Some of these studies will be discussed in this review essay. These studies deserve the most careful reading and analysis, consideration of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the aspect of research chosen by the authors, theoretical approaches, analysis of their methodology, or the depth of showing certain revolutionary events, which must be done. However, in this review essay, we will analyze these works from the point of view of considering the prospects of the so-called fifth generation of revolution studies. Of course, this generational approach is subject to criticism. For example, Radu-Alexandru Cucută (2013) talks about generational deadlock and writes that 'the generational perspective remains impermissibly flexible and elusive, ignoring the main paradigmatic debates within the field of study ' (p. 1107).Colin Beck and Daniel Ritter (2021) are also generally critical of this bias, which creates a false premise. They encourage us to look at ideas, rather than attributing them to one generation or another. There is a rational grain in this criticism. In no case should we limit ourselves to such an analysis or make the division into generations of researchers absolute. But, however, one cannot absolutize any approach as the only correct and true one. Each approach has its own advantages