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“The primary function of revolutionary ideology is to provide as many people as possible with the same or compatible viewpoints on the need to change society so that they will be motivated to cooperate in the revolutionary struggle”
-James Defronzo
Over the course of a person’s life, they are at some point going to learn about revolutions in their academic career. Revolutions have been occurring throughout human history for hundreds of years. But what is a revolution? Or why do revolutionary situations end up having a revolutionary outcome, while others do not? Mass frustration, relative deprivation, identifying the revolution as liberal and conservative or rightist or leftist, all help identify a revolution and figure out why this revolution occurred, in addition to unifying motivations, state crisis and elite dissidence and permissive world context. These terms are all terms James Defronzo uses to identify a revolution, and answer the question, why do revolutions happen, and how does a revolutionary situation turn into a revolutionary outcome. These concepts from James Defronzo will be applied below to explain two case studies, the Hong Kong Protests and the Bolivian Revolution.
According to Defronzo’s theory, there are five critical factors that influence the development of a revolutionary movement. Of these five, a salient factor would be popular uprisings among a large proportion of the population, including urban and rural societies. This factor, known as mass frustration, is depicted in both Bolivia and Hong Kong, in which the extent of popular discontent highly influenced the success of the Bolivian revolution and the ongoing Hong Kong protests. The relevance of this factor in each of these case studies further validates the accuracy of Defronzo’s theory.
Mass frustration essentially stems from the phenomenon known as relative deprivation. A historical process in the nation is needed for such a factor to occur. A rapid decline in the nation’s economy that limits their material living conditions and capabilities could lead to a gap between people’s expectations and the government’s ability to meet those expectations (Defronzo, 2011, 13). This decline of capabilities may occur from an economic depression, or if a country is invaded and is defeated. On the other hand, populations may develop an expectation that functions as the people’s belief on what the level of material existence should be (Defronzo, 2011, 13). This expectation is based on the people’s contact with other societies, and their belief that their economy should improve and redistribute wealth just like similar countries (Defronzo, 2011, 14). These populations may not be economically incapable or limited, but they are expectations of how the government should enhance the economic condition has been strongly influenced and optimistically altered (Defronzo, 2011, 14). The populations affected by such living standards now have an incentive to participate on a massive scale in protests or rebellions against state authorities.
The Bolivian revolution of 1952 experienced a successful and drastic political, economic, and social change. The landlocked Latin American country had an agricultural and natural resource dependent economy. Bolivians were largely rural, as 72 percent of the economically active persons in 1950 were engaged in agriculture (Goldstone, 1999, 45). With the majority of the population included in the agricultural sector, they gained very little from the economy. Furthermore, in accordance with Defronzo’s theory, the Bolivian people endured both forms of relative deprivation. To elaborate, Bolivia suffered a military defeat in the Chaco War (1932-1935), which essentially resulted in a loss of large parts of the southern territory to Paraguay, and the Chaco generation which focused on indigenous communal rights. The Federated Union of Mineworkers with the MNR coalesced their efforts and distributed arms to the populace as they believed a civil war with the aid of the people is the only chance to restore the nation’s condition (Goldstone, 1999, 45). This action fundamentally came as a result of the relative deprivation that the vast majority of the population experienced, in which Bolivia was the poorest nation of South America with the lowest standard of living prior to the revolution. Rural violence erupted in 1952, which resulted in the destruction of the hacienda system by the peasants due to the need of an agrarian reform (Goldstone, 1999, 46). Due to the armed syndicates of peasants, and the popular uprising and rebellion they had to the overseers and landlords, their actions resulted in a redistribution of wealth and land which warranted a control over their unions. Notably, Defronzo mentions that in agricultural societies, the success of a revolution essentially requires the presence of rural rebellions (Defronzo, 2011, 12).
Hong Kong residents are experiencing their version of mass frustration, as they are continuously forming mass protests against the Chinese government. Due to Hong Kong being a special administrative region in China since 1997, they are well aware of the different economic and judicial systems the two regions possess. This would incentivize Hong Kongese to be segregated from mainland China. Their frustration was sparked by the forceful expansion of law to include extradition to mainland China (SCMP, 2020). This public backlash derived from the people’s knowledge of the situation, in which the extradition would hinder civil liberties in Hong Kong, including its autonomy and standard of living. Ultimately, if not for the mass protests outside the legislature building, the extradition bill would have been approved and all people in Hong Kong would now be tried in mainland China (SCMP, 2020). Though these mass protests led to a victory, the Hong Kong people were not satisfied with how they were treated and viewed by the Chinese government and media. Similar to Defronzo’s notion that a society’s contact with others would influence the people’s expectations of their government, the Hong Kongese not only looked at other democratic nations, but also looked at the country they are a part of. The protestors of Hong Kong were not fed up with the Hong Kong government, but the Chinese government. To elaborate, their frustration is outlined by their five demands, each of which represents a clear desire to maintain and enhance their standard of living, relative to mainland China (BBC News, 2019). The first is for the protests not to be characterized as riots as riots convey violence and destruction, and they are, to a certain extent, peacefully protesting. Their second demand is amnesty for arrested protestors, in which protestors should not fear the action of speaking against the government. The third demand is an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality and their aggressive retaliations in protests. The fourth and most critical of demands is the implementation of complete universal suffrage which would differentiate the two regions and allow for greater democratic freedoms. The fifth demand, being the only successful outcome, is the extradition bill to be withdrawn, which has already occurred. Notably, the Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers have resigned en masse to protest the expulsion of four fellow lawmakers, that have been deemed as secessionist by Beijing (Feng & Neuman, 2020, 1). Though most demands have yet to be met by Chinese authorities, mass protests have to a certain extent proved to be successful in Hong Kong, depicting the effects of mass discontent and imperative popular uprisings.
The Bolivian Revolution and the Hong Kong Protests can be better explained by applying some of James Defronzo’s theories and ideas to it. In his work Social Movements and Revolutions, he talks about how a social revolution can be classified as leftist or rightist or even liberal or conservative. Before these theories can be applied to The Bolivian Revolution and the Hong Kong Protests. These terms must be defined, a leftist revolution is a social revolution in which the main goal is to change political and social institutions to alter economic, political, and social relationships (Defronzo, 2011, 10). A rightist social revolution is a revolution in which traditional norms are being pushed and social order and traditional authority is being maintained (Defronzo, 2011, 11). It is important to note when these classifications are given to a revolution, it will not fit perfectly, many revolutions share characteristics from both classifications of leftist and rightist (Defronzo, 2011, 11). In addition to the leftist and rightist revolution, a social revolution can be classified as liberal or conservative, what this means is that a revolution can be change oriented (liberal) or change resistant (conservative) (Defronzo, 2011, 9). What makes being able to identify a movement as liberal or conservative important, is that this makes identifying the central goal of a movement simpler (Defronzo, 2011, 9). Once the revolutionists are defined as either leftist or rightist and primarily change-oriented (liberal) or change-resistant (conservative) the Bolivia revolution can be better understood (Defronzo, 2011, 1).
Before diving into the Bolivian revolution James Defronzo’s ideas must be applied to it, this will include classifying the revolution as leftist or rightist, and if the revolution is liberal or conservative. The Bolivian revolution is a liberal social revolution by the MNR because the introduction of universal suffrage and establishing a national labor federation was breaking the tradition previously followed in Bolivia (Goldstone, 1999, 45). In addition to being a liberal social revolution, the MNR supporters could be classified as leftists because they seek to shatter the traditional political, economic, and social rules and enact radical change. An example of this in action would be in 1952 when the MNR was enacting reformation of land back to the indigenous people due to violent revolts. Before this is all explained, a brief overview of the Bolivian Revolution will follow.
Prior to the 1952 Bolivian Revolution, Bolivia was at war with Paraguay. In the 1930s Bolivia went under hardships of the great depression and lost a lot of southern territory to Paraguay. A lot of Bolivians died during the war with Paraguay, this caused many to feel alienated from the traditional political system when they returned home (Goldstone, 1999, 44). These veterans began to take up Marxist ideas and began to push for a number of causes, which can be summed up by their slogan “lands to the Indians” and “tin mines to state ownership” (Goldstone, 1999, 44). This slogan was used for many of these veteran radical groups, the most notable one was the MNR or the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Goldstone, 1999, 44). During the 1940s there was a radicalization of middle-class whites and labor groups. In 1942 the Catavi Massacre was a huge rally around the flag effect for all the nationalist groups and labor groups, during this massacre gained strength for the MNR (Goldstone, 1999, 44). The MNR gained the support of the mine laborers and worked with the RADEPA (Secret Police) to take over the government in 1943 (Goldman, 1999, 44). Once 1949 came around, the MNR became the poster party for progressive change. This caused the government to lose support, in addition to also the lowering of tin prices which hurt the economy. Because of the loss of allies and support, the government weakened, and the MNR through a revolt was able to take control and win the 1951 election with 72 percent of 54,000 votes. (Goldman, 1999, 44). The current administration denied the MNR the election and that led to another revolt in 1952. The MNR took a lot of casualties but managed to return to power as a populist movement. From 1952-1956 (Goldman, 1999, 44).
The Bolivian revolution and history during this time are a lot more than the quick summary above. But with an understanding of the Bolivian revolution and how the MNR came to power, which is a crucial factor, applying James Defronzo’s classifications of a revolution is easier to apply. The first classification that will be looked at is a leftist social revolution, which is defined as a social revolution that is very change-oriented that seeks to dismantle traditional political or social institutions, to alter the political, economic, or social relationships in society (Defronzo, 2011, 10). Using this definition of a leftist social revolution, the 1952 state of the MNR would fit. Bolivia was an extremely poor country, in 1950 the majority of people made their money from agriculture (Goldman, 1999, 45). With this, there were a lot of estates that were exploiting their workers, Tin mines began to run low and in 1950, the cost of production went up and caused economic distress (Goldman, 1999, 45). The Bolivian Revolution is a leftist revolution because of the economic, social, and political changes implemented by the MNR during this time, which ultimately led to drastic changes. The social changes that make this revolution a leftist revolution are the dismemberment of the army and police, with the wholesale of weapons to militias. This change caused Bolivia to go under this massive economic, social, and political transformation (Goldman, 1999, 45). Bolivia in 1952 enacted universal suffrage by dismantling the literacy requirement, this change was breaking the tradition of only having a select portion of the population vote. This leftist social revolution act led to a jump in the Indian population being able to vote. From that population, the voting went from 200,000 people to one million (Goldman, 1999, 45). This social change made it possible for a large portion of a neglected population to be able to participate in politics.
The changes did not stop there, that year there were also massive economic changes, which support the claim that this is a leftist social revolution. Economic change is the implementation of labor groups and the nationalization of mines. To better understand the importance of this change, one has to have a quick understanding of why this is so important. Prior to 1952 workers were being exploited on plantation and estates (hacienda system). Furthermore, there was the latifundia system which is when there is a lot of land that only a small percentage of people own (Goldman, 1999, 44). With this understanding, it is not hard to see that when the MNR created labor groups and nationalization mines; it was a very impactful economic change. This economic change of the mines was the Bolivian government nationalizing the top three mining companies and merging them together to form the Bolivian Mining Corporation (Goldman, 1999, 46).
James Defronzo’s classification of a leftist social revolution fit the Bolivian revolution due to the fact the MNR was making changes that went against the traditional social, political, economic norms (Defronzo, 2011, 10). The MNR through making universal suffrage, labor groups and nationalizing mines, created new social, economic, and political institutions that helped the MNR carry out as a leftist social revolution until its overthrow. It is important to note that the MNR in addition to being a leftist social revolution, the movement itself is going to be liberal, rather than conservative. This is based on how the MNR was very change oriented rather than re-institutionalizing traditional institutions.
James Defronzo’s classification of a leftist or rightist social revolution can be applied to other revolutions as well. An example could be the Hong Kong protests that are currently going on in Hong Kong. This revolutionary situation started in March 2019 and is still continuing in 2020. Hong Kong China currently does not follow the same rules as mainland China, this means that the citizens have more freedom and are not oppressed by mainland China. The reason for this is Hong Kong was once a British Colony that was returned to China but has always remained separate from China. The cause of the revolutionary situation was the Extradition Bill, which makes Hong Kong Citizens able to be prosecuted by mainland China (Symmes, 2019). This revolutionary situation would classify as a Rightist Revolution, and Conservative. The reason why is because for most of the citizens in Hong Kong, it is their tradition that Hong Kong was separate from mainland China or that it was a British colony most of their life. That is all most people will know, once mainland China has power in Hong Kong, that will break this tradition. The protests are being conservative and want to keep the tradition of Hong Kong being separate from mainland China, which makes this a rightist social revolution since they want to keep Hong Kong’s economic, social, and political institutions and not go under the radical change of giving mainland China prosecuting power in Hong Kong.
Defronzo describes unifying motivations as motivations that fuel the revolution and unite the major classes. In order for a revolution to succeed, it will need the support of multiple major classes. Classes need to work together, an example of this would be redistributing wealth. People who share the same ideas can rally together to fight the oppressor (Defronzo, 2011, 16). Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997. Ever since then, Hong Kong has been under Chinese control. A lot of citizens do not agree with this due to the current government in place in China. The government in China heavily restricts free speech. The government of the People’s Republic of China is anti-democratic. Some citizens, students, and activists have been advocating for full democracy in Hong Kong. They have been pleading for this by doing demonstrations and protests which recently began after June in 2019 (Ives, 2019). Another key factor leading to this frustration was China imposing an extradition law to mainland China. Citizens started fearing that this could undermine judicial independence and endanger objecting protestors. Opponents of this extradition bill argued that this action risked exposing Hong Kongers to unfair trials and possible violent treatment. They also argued the bill would give China greater influence over Hong Kong and could be used to target activists and journalists (BBC News, 2019). This would give China all the power over Hong Kong while the citizens would be left with nothing. Talking out against the government would become prohibited for example. The protests have become increasingly violent. But because of those ongoing protests, the leader of Hong Kong Carrie Lam said the bill would be suspended indefinitely. Protestors still feared this bill could be revived so the protests continued to try to eliminate the bill completely. In September, this bill was finally withdrawn. Unfortunately, protestors believed too many lives were lost against the police and the government. The violence then erupted between the government, Chinese officials, protestors, and even innocent people. In November, the territory held local elections to vote for a pro-democracy movement. It won with an almost unanimous vote. Protests supporting the Hong Kong movement have spread across the globe, with rallies taking place in the UK, France, US, Canada, and Australia. In many cases, people supporting the demonstrators were confronted by pro-Beijing rallies. This is a very dividing and controversial issue. In response to this issue, Chinese president Xi Jinping has warned against separatism, saying any attempt to divide China would end in “bodies smashed and bones ground to powder” (BBC News, 2019). Defronzo argued that the type of motivation that would fuel a revolution would have to unite the major classes. This is exactly what has happened in Hong Kong. Not only this but support from all over the world. In order for this revolution to succeed, it will need the support of multiple major classes, some who have already come together. These classes will need to work together. The motivations that should share in common is the promotion of democracy. These Hong Kongers who share the same ideas, can rally together to fight the oppressor, China’s government.
Bolivia prior to revolution was a country slowly getting economically worse as time went on. The Great Depression affected the country in a particular way. The government went to war with Paraguay over land disputes. After the loss, Bolivia’s economy just continued to become worse. The country would become one of, if not the poorest country in South America. These factors all motivated people including the middle class and even the elites to want a change, specifically a change in government. The agricultural part of the country was very populous, but it did not bring in enough money overall to both the people and the government. The government in place was not adapting as fast as people wanted.
Defronzo describes a state crisis as a political crisis that hurts the state’s ability to function. This happens when a revolution might occur. An example of this could be a natural disaster or a loss in war (Defronzo, 2011, 12). During the Great Depression, Bolivia’s conservative government made the decision to go to war with Paraguay to dispute the lands in Gran Chaco. Bolivia was the poorest country in South America. Land distribution was very unequal among the population, one of the most unequal latifundia in Latin America. The elite royally butchered the war which decimated the traditional politics of Bolivia. Ever since then, Bolivia’s politics have always been problematic Since Bolivia lost the land to Paraguay and had a less than ideal outcome, many veterans who fought in the war were ousted from the traditional political system. This signaled more trouble for Bolivia’s politics. The Nationalist Revolutionary movement or the MNR decided to create a plan to overthrow the government and take control since they won the elections at the time but were not yet given power. MNR knew that only a civil war would allow them to finally be in power. MNR finally was able to take control, but their party platform changed and was now a populist movement. This change sparked a revolution. The government armed civilians created new rural and urban militias, while also neutralizing the police. This would change Bolivia politically forever. The MNR party also got rid of literacy requirements for voting, which allowed more people to vote in Bolivia. Established the national labor federation, the COB 1952-1953: Rural violence erupted in Bolivia as peasants were trying to dismantle the Hacienda system. The government had to comply due to the violence and gave the land back to the indigenous populations. Essentially, the Bolivian government armed their people, which eventually helped them when they rose against their own government. COB and the alliances made with other workers’ unions survived rightist regimes and the eventual loss of power of the MNR. A revolution might not be that successful if the government still has strong administrative capabilities and a strong-armed presence to suppress the dissident (Defronzo, 2011, 11). MNR stripped the government of its strong administrative capabilities, that is why MNR had so much control. MNR even gave the people more power.
This situation has gained a lot of support not only from many Hong Kongers themselves, but also worldwide. Democratic states have backed the protests pro-democracy and have even condemned the actions of China’s government. This issue is not going away any time soon. Chinese President Xi Jinping has admitted that this issue is a controversial one and that China will not back down. This statement has not only proved that this is a crisis but also that this issue could get worse with no end in sight.
Elite Dissidence can only be understood through that of looking at the elites in a country that control political, military, and the leaders that possess technical and managerial skills where these elites can be pitted against one another. Using Bolivia as a prime example we can see multiple figures that we would identify as being the social elite. When we identify these elites, we can begin to understand the weight in which they hold in order to sway the governing body one way or another. “The seizure of power by “military socialists” under David Toro and German Busch (1936-1939) led to the first nationalization of a foreign oil company; the YPFB” (Goldstone, 44, 1999) With this push into establishing an oil company it fueled profits to allow change in the government. Following this you see the political elites start to have a rallying of the middle class and later the miner also began to be radicalized.
In 1946 the MNR developed a problem with an uprising and had to remove some of the fascist ideas they portrayed and needed to establish themselves as more of a radical and progressive party of change. This however did not last too long as a shift after WWII caused a fiscal crisis and elections began to see corruption. In a last-ditch effort to win the political elites, the MNR backed Victor Paz in his choice to arm all the civilians in order to fight the Miners. This set a MNR back on top to control the government once again. However, Paz Esstenssoro realized the dangers of the middle class getting restless and created the alliance of COB, and as an Elite transitioned to a new party the old party was not spared and the MNR was destroyed shortly after. The Bolivian revolution had many examples of how certain elite organizations can affect one another if they are at each other’s throats showing the power of what Elite Dissidence does.
Permissive world context is when there are outside forces in the international system, suppressing a revolution of a country or supporting a revolution of a country (Defronzo, 2011, 13). An example would be if a nation intervenes in another country’s revolution or does not intervene. This could be because of economic issues, or sanctions. In Bolivia post revolution, the MNR was not doing so well, the militias they armed previously were tired with economic choices the government had made. From 1952 to 1956 the burden to pay for the revolution was put on the middle class, the MNR in 1964 was on track to losing power (Goldstone, 1999, 46). An example of permissive world context would be during the cold war, the Bolivian government allied with the United States so it can receive foreign policy support. Because of the foreign aid from the U.S. Bolivia’s economy and social institutions began to grow. This is an example of permissive world context because Bolivia used the United States to stop the overthrow of their party (the MNR). If it were not for the support of the United States, Bolivia’s economy would still suffer and the MNR would have been overthrown much sooner. In addition to Bolivia being a good example of permissive world context, the Hong Kong Protests are a good example as well. The Hong Protests have gathered support from a lot of private organizations in the United States, but for the most part the U.S. government has not shown support for the protests or sided with China. There was a bill introduced that never made it through congress called the “be water act”. This act allowed the president to put sanctions and freeze assets on corporations that were suppressing freedom in Hong Kong, even though the bill was only introduced (116th Congress, 2019), this is a good example of permissive world context because it shows a situation where an outside actor in the international system, would be able to influence a revolution or revolutionary situation in another country.
In both cases of Hong Kong and Bolivia, mass frustration, relative deprivation, and the identification of the revolutions as liberal and conservative or rightist or leftist all help identify these as examples of revolutions. In addition to those ideas set out by James Defronzo, unifying motivations, state crisis and elite dissidence and permissive world context are also found with these two examples. All of these terms Defronzo uses first to identify a revolution and then to answer why they happen. In doing so gives us the necessary insight to further our understanding on what causes the problems that lead into revolutions that can change a country for the better or sometimes for the worse.
Work Cited
BBC News. “The Hong Kong Protests Explained in 100 and 500 Words.” BBC News, BBC, 28 Nov. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49317695.
DeFronzo, J. (2011). Revolutions and revolutionary movements. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Feng, E., & Neuman, S. (2020, November 11). Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy Lawmakers Quit Legislature Over Ouster of Colleagues. Accessed on November 14 at: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/11/933780136/hong-kongs-pro-democracy-lawmakers-quitlegislature-over-ouster-of-colleagues
Ives, Mike. “What Is Hong Kong’s Extradition Bill?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 June 2019, “The Hong Kong Protests: The International Response.” Political Science, 7 Apr. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/world/asia/hong-kong-extradition-bill.html.
Luu, Chieu, et al. “Hong Kong Protests – China’s Rebel City: Part 1 – Marching into the Unknown.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OStiT1aP0nQ.
Symmes, D. W. (1975). Elite induced change in the Bolivian national revolution, 1952 – 1964. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&http sredir=1&article=3227&context=etd
Goldstone, Jack A. The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions, Taylor & Francis Group, 1999. ProQuest Ebook Central, Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucb/detail.action?docID=2037849.
Cova, Antonio de la. “The Bolivian National Revolution 1952-1964.” The Bolivian Revolution, www.latinamericanstudies.org/bolivian-revolution.htm. “THE BOLIVIAN NATIONAL REVOLUTION, 1952-64.” Bolivia – THE BOLIVIAN NATIONAL REVOLUTION, 1952-64, countrystudies.us/bolivia/19.htm.
Watkins, Thayer. The National Revolution of 1952 in Bolivia, www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/bolivia52.htm.
Ex. Rept. 105-2 – U.S.-HONG KONG EXTRADITION TREATY. (n.d.). Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/105th-congress/executive-report/2/1
Hawley, Josh. “S.2758 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): Hong Kong Be Water Act.” Congress.gov, 31 Oct. 2019, www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2758.
Image Attribution
“Hong Kong Protests 2019” by Jonathan van Smit is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0