1. 3/10/11

2. Revolutions in the Third World—
The Causes
Violence as a tool of political struggle —
When is it legitimately Justified?
The aftermath:
Can democracy be born in violence?
3/10/11

3. Revolution
• Theda Skocpol’s definition
– “Rapid, basic transformation of a society’s state and class
structures; and they are accompanied and in part carried
through by class-based revolts from below…… occur
through intense socio-political conflicts in which class
struggles play a key role”
• How “rapid”?
• What counts as “basic transformation”
3/10/11

4. Causes of revolutions
• Economic Theory - Marx
– Exploitation of labour causes alienation and
dehumanization of labour
– At certain point, existing economic superstructure
can no longer sustain
– The exploited working class will revolt to start a
new economic order
3/10/11

5. Psychological theory – Ted Gurr and James Davies
– “Relative deprivation”, “J-
Curve”: The disparity
between expected
satisfaction and reality
– Leading to
stress, frustration and in
some cases, participation
in mass movements and
revolutions
3/10/11

6. Social-structural theory: Theda Skocpol
– A study of Russia, France and
China BUT…
– Several factors together sufficient – Too much emphasis on
for revolution certain classes?
• Emergence of state crises (e.g. war) – Applicable to the Third
• Weak state World?
• Sociopolitical structure conducive to • The dynamics of dependent
peasant revolts socieities
• Role of state-making elites • Rural population or urban
actors?
3/10/11

7. John Foran – Five interrelated causal factors
Political culture of opposition Repressive, exclusionary
Culture and ability to mobilize government: Repression of
mass participation (Cultural lower class force and exclusion
factor) of middle class and elites from
government
World-systemic opening Combination of all 5
“a powerful conjuncture factors make revolution
arises for revolutionary successful
movements to succeed”
Dependant development
The internal and external
dynamics of core-
Economic downturn peripherial relationship
3/10/11

8. Application of the model
• Case study: Angola
– Dependant economy: Agricultural and mineral riches exploited by
Portuguese colonial masters “Portugal’s African Jewel”; weak and
undercapitalized local economy
– Repressive state: Typical “separate society” colonial state
– Culture of opposition: Long history of resistance to Portuguese rule
– Economic Downturn + World-systematic opening: Internal revolution
within Portugal; Failure of post-Salazar government; Simultaneous
colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde
Result: Independence of Angola (though quickly lapse into civil war)
3/10/11

9. Frantz Fanon – Dehumanization Thesis
– Colonial master’s rule by violence
– Segregation between colonizers and natives: “The
Manichean society”
– Native society dehumanized and de-culturized
– Violent revolution necessary for the native to start a
new humane society
– Successful examples from abroad: Dien Bien Phu of
Vietnam
– Tactics of guerrilla warfare

10. “My intimate knowledge of many central
African tribes has everywhere convinced
me of the necessity that the Negro does
not respect treaties but only brute force.”
• General Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha on German South
West Africa
“At the level of individuals, violence
is a cleansing force. It frees the
native from his inferiority complex
and from his despair and inaction, it
makes him fearless and restores his
self-respect.”
• Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, p. 74
3/10/11

11. The justification
of violence
3/10/11

12. Frantz Fanon's “concerning Violence”
• Context of Algerian occupation— the violence in
the act of occupation at the first place
•A Psychological dimension into the
sufferings of the natives
•The role of violence in remedying
the sufferings, and facilitating the
course of decolonization
3/10/11

13. definitions
Notions of “violence”: Compelling demands against one's
will with threats of using force
The 2 dimensions of
“Decolonizing”
Psychologically freeing the
Physically freeing a consciousness of the
territory from the native from the effects of
external control of colonization, being the
the settlers. state of alienation and
dehumanization
3/10/11

14. Premises:
P1: The colonization was not legitimate and is rooted from
violent sources
P2: The suppressed is entitled to 2 things:
physical reclamation of sovereignty +
liberation and/or remedy from psychological suffering of
colonization
P3: No non-violent options available to serve the ends of
remedy nor driving away of settlers
con. “Violence is not only justified, it is required”

15. The violent nature of colonization
 An “implantation” of an irrelevant society –Fanon
 the natives’ identity, sovereign right and “humanity”
cleanly stripped by the ruling settlers.
 Any demand for such non-recognised rights constitutes to
violation of the settler’s law, and equates to violent
punishment, systems of torture, etc.
 Segregated schools; army barracks and police stations
3/10/11

16. Stakeholder analysis
Political parties Urban intellectuals with certain interests in
colonial system. They desire reform of system, not its removal.
Colonialist bourgeoisie They promote compromise and
non-violence. e.g. “Bus boycotts”
“these are solutions in the form of
‘sleep cures’, they work people off
energy, but not to bring about real
change.”--Fanon

17. Psychological Profile of the Native
Under Fanon’s diagnosis, the natives are found to
engage in “mechanisms of avoidance” to suppress
“urges of violence”
Dreams — Native avoids realities of colonial
limits/boundaries with dreams full of action.
Redirection of aggression
Towards fellow native - tribal warfare, quarrels, etc.
In terrifying myths - malefic spirits, zombies, fatalism.
Use to facilitate mental avoidance from reality
3/10/11

18. Remedial effects of violence
• Immediate relief through natural response to
the colonial violence
…Do •they disprove the possibility of
Liberating the consciousness of the native from
the effects of alienation and dehumanization
available alternatives?
• Facilitates the building of solidarity in the
struggle for freedom
• Structurally bringing down the social
institutions of the colonial community
3/10/11

19. Premises:
P1: The colonization was not legitimate and is rooted from
violent sources
P2: The suppressed is entitled to 2 things:
physical reclamation of sovereignty +
liberation and/or remedy from psychological suffering of
colonization
P3: No non-violent options available to serve the ends of
remedy nor driving away of settlers
con. “Violence is not only justified, it is required”

20. Common Critiques
ASSUMED that use of violence as the only means of
RELEVANT remedy
Automatic regaining of Provision of sovereignty +
monetary remedy?
The non-violent movement by Ghandi
The morality of “An eye for an eye”?
3/10/11

21. By-products of violence
Build-up of tensions, and induce the
Colonial gov. to “engage” with force.
more uncertainty—”Guns go off by
themselves”
What if violence fail?
Would it lead to more insecurity?
Allowing violence for the sake of it
or the means to the end of ultimate
security?

22. Our opinion
“you can use violence to achieve certain political
goals”
”to the point where the repressed society lost
control, and that it just so happened that
violence broke out, the suppressed society is not
to be blamed.”
3/10/11

23. Violence = an option to consider?
Does Fanon's justification extends to other
other contexts?
e.g. Capitalist regimes
forms of political struggle?
e.g. fight of ideologies?
e.g. Religious freedom?
3/10/11

24. So… Can democracy be birthed
in violence?
3/10/11

25. Mohammed Ayoob on state building
– It takes hundreds of years and tremendous violence for Western European
states to develop into modern democracies, now the Third World is
required to complete state-building under a very tight schedule and lots of
external interference
– In the Third World, mass politics come before formation of strong states
– Colonialism distorts state-making – e.g. Inherited colonial border houses
distinct and sometimes hostile ethnic groups (e.g former Yugoslavia);
difficulty in forming a common identity; delayed development of
economies
– Further destabilization by accelerated modernization
3/10/11

26. • Some reservations:
 Extent of violence
 Exploitation of solidarity by Religious
extremists and military coups
 “What” violence is necessary?
– Consider the case of Sinn Fein and the IRA of the
Republic of Ireland
3/10/11

27. “Violence used in specific ways at the moment
of the struggle for freedom does not magically
disappear after the ceremony of trooping the
national colours” (Fanon, p. 59)
When will violence stop?
“The atmosphere of violence, after
having coloured all the colonial
phase, continues to dominate
national life” (Fanon, p. 60)
3/10/11