Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ULUSLARARASI ILISKILER, cilt.21, sa.82, ss.79-96, 2024 (SSCI)
When and how do agents consciously reproduce or unconsciously transform
social structures? This inquiry is pivotal for advancing a theory of
socio-historical development, particularly in addressing a key debate
within International Historical Sociology (IHS) surrounding modern
revolutions. This debate revolves around the tension between the
“consequentialist” interpretation of bourgeois revolutions and the
“revisionist” critiques, notably from the “historicist” wing of
Political Marxism (PM). This article contends that the tension arises
from an inadequate conceptualization of the agent-structure
relationship. Drawing on Roy Bhaskar’s transformational model of social
activity (TMSA) and critical realist philosophy of science, the article
proposes a conceptual framework reconciling PM’s focus on class struggle
to understand the historical specificity of capitalism with the role
bourgeois revolutions historically and structurally played for the
development of capitalism. Integrating Bhaskar’s framework with
historical materialism-inspired debates on bourgeois revolutions, the
paper suggests that agents’ unconscious actions can transform social
structures amid social disintegration (“classic bourgeois revolutions”).
Conversely, agents consciously seek to preserve and reproduce social
structures, as seen in “passive revolutions”. This occurs when social
structures, marked by inequality and hierarchies, are viewed as
historical constructs rather than natural phenomena, particularly in the
context of uneven and combined development of capitalism. This analysis
contributes to ongoing IHS debates, enriches our comprehension of
modern revolutions, and extends TMSA by empirically delineating
circumstances wherein agents consciously uphold or unwittingly trigger
the transformation of social structures.