REVOLUTION Reason and Revolution in the 17 th and 18 th centuries.

TUNISIA, 2011 Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, says, "Mohamed suffered a lot. He worked hard. But when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity.“ Read more: Pictures of TIME’s Person of the Year 2011: the Protester - LightBox protesters-2/#ixzz2lVjAuzZTPictures of TIME’s Person of the Year 2011: the Protester - LightBoxhttp://lightbox.time.com/2011/12/14/person-of-the-year protesters-2/#ixzz2lVjAuzZT

WHAT IS A REVOLUTION? Root/Origin: (Latin) “Revolutio” = To return to an older order. Definition now: (15 th cent-now) = A radical alteration to some system.

INGREDIENTS IN A REVOLUTION Every revolution has these three components: (Socrates) 1.Discontent with a current system. Professor Dalenda Largueche, left, is a leading Tunisian feminist and protester. Right, Greek protester Marianna Roumelioti. "They say you can have freedom of speech and expression on the condition that it doesn't insult or deal with religion. Who determines that? Freedom doesn't mean these limits. It either is or it isn't," says Largueche

COMPONENTS OF A REVOLUTION Every revolution has these three components: (Socrates) 2. A leader to focus and articulate the dissatisfaction with the system. Left, Tea Party 365 founder Thomas Basile. Right, Egyptian protester Um Treka. "The movement remains a largely grassroots movement. This is in thousands of communities across America, but our organization is really not about making the organization larger. It’s about spreading an awareness of the dangers of oppressive debt and taxation and how that burdens the American dream," Basile says.

COMPONENTS OF A REVOLUTION Every revolution has these three components: (Socrates) 3. An alternative structure to replace the current system. We just needed someone to make our arguments clearly and demonstrate the prejudices of others, and I knew I could do that," says Jon Aguirre Such, spokesman for Democracia Real YA in Spain.

EXAMPLES OF REVOLUTIONS Recent RevolutionsRevolutions During the 17 th and 18 th centuries Scientific Revolution (1500 & 1600 AD – now) The Enlightenment (early 1700s) American Revolution (mid 1700s) French Revolution (late 1700s) Agricultural Revolution (1700s) Industrial Revolution (1800s) revolutionary-timeline.html

SUCCESSES Revolutions, historically, are most effective when change begins with the people and slowly transforms the basic beliefs of culture. Ie) roles of women in society, thoughts about climate change, society’s acceptance of gay marriage.

CHALLENGES People may be unified in their opposition to the status quo but these challenges make revolution difficult: 1. Fractures and divisions amongst opposition. People may be unified in their opposition to the status quo but these challenges make revolution difficult: 1. Fractures and divisions amongst opposition. How to spark change? How quickly?

CHALLENGES 2. Ineffective leadership changes. Once in power, revolutionaries often copy the desperate measures their former political leaders used to keep in power. “Coup d'état” – military overthrow Results in more calls for reform.

CHALLENGES 3. National vulnerability After revolution, before the new government is well established, the country is in a vulnerable position. Ie) 1980 Iraq attacks Iran over disputed territory right after Iran’s Islamic military revolution.

CHALLENGES 4. International Alarm Sometimes other nations become involved because they fear the effects of the revolution on their own people and new national policies the newly reformed government may enact. Ie) Russia aids Syria’s dictator during Syria’s civil war for its own interests.

CHALLENGES 5. Revolutionaries must justify their actions. Policies must be deemed acceptable to other nations for favourable trade agreements. Ie) United State’s trade embargo on Cuba (1962-now) Che Guevara

ASSIGNMENT Research the events below and analyze how the three ingredients of revolution (discontent, leader(s) and their strategies, alternative systems to replace old) occurred in each of them. Tunisia ( ) Egypt (2011-) Yemen (2011) Libya (2011) protest-interactive-timeline protest-interactive-timeline arab-spring arab-spring