Synopses & Reviews
Over the last forty years the world has witnessed the emergence and proliferation of a new political phenomenon - unarmed revolution. On virtually every continent, citizens have ousted their authoritarian leaders by employing nonviolent tactics such as strikes, demonstrations, boycotts, and civil disobedience against them. At the same time however, similar movements elsewhere have been brutally crushed by autocrats determined to cling to power.
In this book, Daniel Ritter seeks to understand unarmed revolutions by posing two interrelated questions: Why do nonviolent revolutionary movements in some countries topples autocratic regimes while similar movements elsewhere falter, and why has the world witnessed the proliferation of unarmed revolutions in the last forty years? Through a comparative historical analysis of the Iranian, Tunisian, and Egyptian revolutions, he argues that close and friendly international relations between democratic states in the West and authoritarian regimes elsewhere constitute a plausible explanation for nonviolent revolutionary success.
In an original conceptualization of revolutionary dynamics, Ritter argues that Western-aligned autocrats eventually find themselves restrained by their strong links to the democratic world through a mechanism he refers to as 'the iron cage of liberalism.' Having committed rhetorically to the West's fundamental political discourse of democracy and human rights, the dictators in Tehran, Tunis, and Cairo found themselves paralyzed when nonviolent crowds challenged them with tactics and demands fully compatible with the political ideals the regimes claimed as their own.
Review
"In this timely and well written account of civil resistance in the Middle East and North Africa, Ritter sheds light on an important but largely overlooked factor: the international political relationships that make authoritarian regimes vulnerable to domestic unarmed revolutions. More than any other scholar, Ritter reveals how the interactive effects of structure, ideology, and strategic action shape the trajectory of nonviolent uprisings. This is essential reading for anyone interested in civil resistance and revolutions." -Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Professor of Sociology, University of New Mexico, author of Nonviolent Revolutions
"Ritter, one of the two or three most important young scholars of revolutions and related matters, has produced a fiercely intelligent, challenging, and engaging book that fundamentally shifts the ground many of us have been and more everyday seek to explore and explicate. A clever focus on liberalisms iron cage which limits regime responses and enables nonviolence and a salutary reminder that more than we think and perhaps more than ever before, international relations matter, are explored through rich assessments of Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt, with implications and ramifications teased out far and wide, in the context of a theoretically sophisticated framework which will loom large for years to come. This is a voice and perspective to be reckoned with." - Eric Selbin, Lucy King Brown Chair of Political Science, Southwestern University, author of Revolution, Rebellion, Resistance
"In times of national and international conflicts around and about democracy, this rigorous comparative study helps us understand the dynamics and outcomes of civil society struggles and regimes reactions. Focusing on the ways in which international ties can support but also constrain authoritarian regimes, it proposes an innovative explanatory angle. A book scholars of social movements and revolution will learn a lot from." -Donatella della Porta, Director of Centre on Social Movement Studies (COSMOS), European University Institute
"This is the most important study of how international relations shape revolutions in many years. Focusing on nonviolent revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, Ritter skillfully details how rulers responses to protest were constrained by their international ties. Everyone who wants to understand the fate of modern dictatorships and democratic movements will need to read this book." -Jack Goldstone, Hazel Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University
"While the strategic effectiveness of nonviolent collective action seems to be a shared article of faith for many scholars, the unpleasant truth is that at least as many nonviolent revolutions fail as succeed. How are we to explain this variation? Drawing on his detailed analysis of the revolutions in Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt, Daniel Ritter offers a highly original answer to this question based on what he sees as the unique vulnerability of autocratic regimes with strong ties to Western democracies. An altogether welcome addition to the literatures on revolution and nonviolence." -Doug McAdam, Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
"Meticulously researched and compellingly presented, Daniel Ritter's The Iron Cage of Liberalism will be studied for a long time to come because it asks two very important questions: why have we witnessed an upsurge of unarmed revolutionary attempts, and what explains the success of some of them? Its lessons may prove surprisingly relevant to real world outcomes." -John Foran, Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara
About the Author
Daniel Ritter,
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stockholm UniversityDaniel Ritter is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Sociology at Stockholm University. He earned his doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin, and has been a Max Weber Fellow and a Research Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. His research interests are in the areas of revolutions, social movements, international relations, and comparative politics.
Table of Contents
Part I: Introduction 1. Toward a Theory of Unarmed Revolution
Part II: International Relations
2. Friendly International Relations: Benefit or Burden?
3. Facade Democracy: Managing Authoritarianism
Part III: Domestic Politics
4. Survival of the Fittest: Challenging Facade Democracies
5. Ousting the Dictator: Unarmed Revolutions and Disarm ed Regimes
Part IV: Further Comparisons and Conclusions
6. Confrontational States: Outside of the Iron Cage of Liberalism
7. Rights, Rhetoric, and Revolutions