[Bilimsel Haber] CFP - Coloured Revolutions: special issue of the journal "Totalitarianism and Democracy" ]

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

*Coloured Revolutions*







The Hannah Arendt Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism
http://www.hait.tu-dresden.de/ext/homepage.asp

is preparing a special number of its journal "Totalitarianism and 
Democracy"
http://www.hait.tu-dresden.de/td/

focusing on the coloured revolutions happened in Eastern Europe and 
former Soviet Countries (see the rationale below).

The issue will come out in spring 2008 and the deadline is the 20 
October, 2007 (for the first submission, articles will then be reviewed 
and the final submission date will be the 25 November)

Interested authors are invited to send an abstract (max 500 words) by 
the 20 of August to

Prof. Donnacha Ó Beacháin
donnacha at kimep.kz (back up address donnacha_1 at yahoo.com)

and

Abel Polese
Abel.Polese at mailbox.tu-dresden.de (back up address
abelpolese at yahoo.co.uk)

Authors of accepted abstract will be notified by the 25 of August 2007.
English is preferred but articles in German can be accepted as well

Towards a theory of democratic revolutions? Some evidence from Eurasia 
1998-2006

(NB contributions focusing on previous protest movements such as those 
in Czechoslovakia or the Baltic are very welcome, as long as they can 
show a connection between them and those that form the primary focus of 
our analysis)

Since 1998 the Eurasian geopolitical landscape has been affected by what 
have been labelled 'colour revolutions', referring to a number of 
socio-political transformations attempted, but not necessarily achieved, 
in a number of countries, namely: Slovakia (1998), Serbia (2000), 
Belarus (2001 and 2006), Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004), Kyrgyzstan 
(2005) and immediately sedated in Russia, Uzbekistan (2005), Azerbaijan 
(2005), and Kazakhstan (2005).

These events have certainly some elements in common with the second wave 
of revolutions, which occurred in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic 
and the Baltic Countries in 1989-91 but they also possess some 
completely new features like the growing use of the Internet, humour and 
art to deliver a message, and the significant involvement of grassroots 
NGOs.

In some cases these 'revolutions' have led to a radical political and 
social change in the country, in other cases not. It is our belief that 
the 'people' factor is decisive in determining the nature of a 
revolution and popular attitudes are crucial for a successful movement. 
However, it is up to leaders to create the conditions for people to 
become aware and motivate them to act. How is it possible to create the 
conditions necessary for a revolution to happen and to be successful?

To answer this question one should go beyond the vision that sees 
economic and logistic support to the opposition as the main elements of 
a successful revolution. Likewise the opinion that 'people stood up and 
fought for democracy' should be examined and analyses should try to 
understand the relative importance of external aid and popular attitudes 
in determining the 'success' of a revolution. A revolution is 
'successful' if it leads to a substantial change in the country. The 
easiest indicator of this change is a political one, however a social 
change might also be employed as an indicator of success, when it is 
measurable.

All the opposition movements made use of protest techniques developed 
over the years and often based on Gene Sharp's theory of power (1973) 
and his a guidebook 'from dictatorship to democracy'.

Some theoretical questions we want to answer are:

Why did the use of revolutionary tools not lead to the same result all 
over the post-communist space? Is it because those tools were used 
correctly in some cases and incorrectly in others or because 'geography' 
matters?

What was the role of the ruling elite in preventing the development of 
civil society and stymieing protests and to what degree was the role of 
the political opposition, external actors, and NGO networking important?

Is there a saturation point for the 'coloured revolutions' after which 
all attempts to use such techniques will be futile? Or is it the case 
that some 'revolutions' were not attempted in the right place or at the 
right moment?

By exploring these questions above and drawing from the experiences of 
these 'revolutions', we seek to spell out a theory of 'coloured 
revolutions' that can provide some common points for all the social 
changes that have occurred between 1998-2006. To do this, we welcome 
theory-generating contributions that focus on a country as case study or 
propose a comparative analysis of a number of countries.

Contributions should analyse one or more elements that have to be 
encountered when 'organizing a revolution'. In particular we might 
divide the topics in the following way: (the list is not exhaustive and 
potential contributors are welcome to discuss with the editors a 
possible focus)

a) Ideology and a theoretical framework
The role of previous waves of revolutions
The reference texts of a revolution
The role of Gene Sharp's 'theory of power', 'from dictatorship to 
democracy' and other ideological sources

b) The will to set up a revolutionary apparatus
The work of the Einstein Foundation in Eurasia
The role of foreign and domestic intelligence forces
The legacy of previous protest movements
Democratic ideology in regional context
Existence of a team of revolution makers at national and international 
level that has been operating in Eurasia and is extending its field of 
action to other regions

c) Fundraising
Relations with foreign foundations
Domestic fundraising: contact with local businessmen
Door to door fundraising: gathering goods other than money (labour 
force, commodities, ideas, services, ideological and physical support)

d) Training of activists
Contact with other successful protest movements
Relations with foreign foundations
Domestic trainings of activists

e) Coordination and cooperation of forces
Relations between the political and NGO forces before, during and after 
the political crisis
Networking between domestic NGOs
Relations between the political forces, national based and grassroots NGOs

f) Containing the influence of hostile actors
The role of external forces such as the EU, Russia and USA and their 
influence on civil society
Coping with a hostile environment and limiting the influence of the 
current regime
Alliances of the opposition and civil society with some major 
personalities of the ruling elite that subsequently/thereafter support 
the protest movements

g) Involving and motivating people
The People's attitude, in a comparative historical and/or geographical 
perspective
Communication between the leaders and people to motive them
The relations between NGOs and "ordinary" people
Communication between active and passive strata of the population

h) Capacity to choose time and modality to carry out the revolution
The logistics of a revolution
How to prepare scenarios (optimistic and pessimistic) of a revolution
The right time to carry out a revolution

Donnacha Ó Beacháin, PhD
Associate Professor,
Department of Political Science,
Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, 4 
Abai St., Almaty 050100, Kazakhstan
donnacha at kimep.kz / donnacha_1 at yahoo.com

and

Abel Polese
Marie Curie Research Fellow
Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism,
01062 Dresden, Germany
Abel.Polese at mailbox.tu-dresden.de / address abelpolese at yahoo.co.uk

Email: donnacha_1 at yahoo.com, abelpolese at yahoo.co.uk 
<mailto:donnacha_1 at yahoo.com,%20abelpolese at yahoo.co.uk>
Visit the website at http://www.hait.tu-dresden.de/td/