ABSTRACT
The objective of this text is to consider the very concept of revolution. I assume that a revolution is an act whereby the existing social order – nomos – a sense of understanding of the world is disturbed. Revolution results in disruption of its structure, and thus it entails the loss of sense of control and domestication in the world. Revolutionary disruption of nomos causes moral panic and brings people to a state of anomie, that is, lack of regulation in the normative ordering system. I argue that the effect of moral panic is often a counter-revolution or a conservative revolution constituting an attempt to restore the undermined and contested social and political order. Conservative revolution is, therefore, an attempt to nullify the progressive revolution aiming at freedom and democracy and to restore the original status quo. Further, I argue that this tendency in conservative revolutions is the main reason for the failure of pro-democratic revolutions. In the text, I will reflect on the conditions to be fulfilled so that the progressive revolution bringing in the moral panic would not produce a “conservative effect” and, as a result, bring counter-revolutionary authoritarianism. I will also consider what a revolution in the era of the reign of the biocapital may be.
