ABSTRACT
Two themes in Theda Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China are critical: the contrast between structure and agency, and between the international and the domestic. Skocpol's analysis is "structural" because she argues that revolutionary outcomes correspond to patterns of relationships between competing groups rather than to the desires of any particular group. "An existing economy and class structure", Skocpol also argues, "condition and influence a given state structure and the activities of the rulers". A "social revolution" is a unique concept. These revolutions are "rapid, basic transformations of a society's state and class structures". She identifies social revolution with success: for a social revolution to qualify as such, it must involve a total transformation of social and political life, meaning it must be successful. States and Social Revolutions enjoyed a broad impact and continues to be read. A core part of the strength of the argument was Skocpol's scientific, rather than personal, perspective.
