Cultural revolution faces the paradox that readiness makes revolution unnecessary
Evidence
Schiller’s is indeed one of the first meditations on the antinomies of cultural revolution: only after revolutionary change can the new man, the post-acquisitive human nature, come into being; but the Terror (and in our own time, Stalinism) stands as a warning that purges cannot complete a process for which men are not yet ready, or in other words for which objective social conditions are not yet ripe. Does it follow then that revolution can ultimately be successful only when men are psychologically receptive to its demands, which is to say, when it is no longer really necessary in the first place? — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 189
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the Frankfurt School’s meditation on revolution and subjective readiness — particularly Lukács’s theory of class consciousness and Adorno’s critique of premature political action. — connects to: The Cultural Revolution was an attempt to provoke fresh group-formation over reviving the party — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 537; Cultural change can follow institutional change rather than precede it — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 2237; Revolution becomes likely when prolonged improvement is abruptly reversed — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4352 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Revolution produces revolutionary consciousness, not the reverse
#contradicts(0.88) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1126 - Cultural change can follow institutional change rather than precede it
#qualifies(0.82) — , The Rod and the Child, 2237 - Revolution becomes likely when prolonged improvement is abruptly reversed
#contradicts(0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4352