ABSTRACT
Most contemporary theories of revolution are derived from the analysis of conflict between social classes in racially homogeneous societies, and they may not be very illuminating when applied to situations of revolutionary struggle between racial groups. This chapter discusses some questions concerning the applicability of theories of class revolution to racial revolution. It defines revolution as a form of 'internal war' in which there is a violent assumption of power and substantial change in the structure and values of the society. If a major theme in revolutionary theory is the Marxist dialectic in the economic process, resulting in the polarization of classes, the variations on this theme appear to exhaust almost every logical possibility. There are theories of a predisposing condition in the immiserization of the masses, or in economic advance, or in economic growth followed by recession, or in the disjunction between desire and reality, or in the tension between the processes and relations of production.
