is there a definitive definition of “revolution” you follow and how do you differentiate it from the standard coup? when does a coup become a revolution?
As far as I know, a coup is when a government is overthrown by its military. A revolution is when the people replaces the ruling class by another one.
there are lots of kinds of non-military coups. judicial coups, self-coups, the business plot, some kinds of election fraud…
Theres also Self-Coups (Peru 1992), Legislative Coups (Brazil 2016) and that time the US Supreme Court decided that Bush won the election. I think Revolutions usually start within the civilian population and the military and police joins in as the goverment begins to fall. Coups are more organized.
most revolutions have had some form of military or paramilitary participation. it usually isnt just a spontaneous uprising
Yes but involvement in this case would be distinct from the military acting primarily on its own, and as an institution. For instance the soldiers who sided with the Bolsheviks did so as defectors, or as already having been arrested for treason
When the credits start rolling
When you start seeing posters of
everywhere in the countrywhen it forms a stable emulsion
It’s useful to think of *Revolution" as it’s used in Scientific Revolution and Industrial Revolution; a complete restructuring of how both society and individuals identify and organize themselves. The bang bang part of Revolution’s colloquial meaning comes from the violent counter-revolution.
A (traditional) Coup d’etat is the forceful takeover of the leadership of an existing state apparatus.
Neither of these are exclusive. ML theory, for example, advocates for the takeover of the state apparatus as a key method for bringing about and guarding the social revolution.
I’d say if it has popular support and the new leadership is substantially changing the status quo, especially with regards to the ancien regime’s real power (e.g. cancelling debt, land reform, democratization, other significant reforms that take power away from the previous ruling class) then it is a revolution.
When the conditions which foment the revolution occur in the “Revolutionary” region- otherwise it’s just sparkling anarchy.
Jokes aside. The high-level summary of my understanding would be when the coup d’etat engages in the humanization (ie support of liberation of the people from oppression) of the people, and empowers them to engage in the formation of a system of their own development- appropriate to the context of the surrounding world and those within the system- then it takes on revolutionary aspects.
Otherwise if a coup d’etat seeks to overthrow oppression without liberation of the people, it is more appropriately described as a reactionary event in opposition of the current regime in favor of a new regime, rather than a revolutionary act of liberation. Which in turn exposes the movement to opportunism and re-formation of oppressive systems albeit under a different banner.
So rather it must not only result in the banishment of the oppressive systems, but the re-formation of those systems by, for, and with the praxis (action and reflection) of those existing within the material and historical context of that system.
A coup becomes a revolution when the change in government is paired with a change in ideological outcomes for that government
