Customer Reviews

The Revolution of the Saints: A Study in the Origins of Radical Politics

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this book, Michael Walzer gives a new twist to a classic thesis: that the revolutionary ideological change born of the Protestant Reformation was foundational for the emergence of many of the modern social institutions we know. Walzer focuses, in particular, on the emergence of radical politics and the role of Calvinist and Puritan thought in the English Civil War.

Walzer traces the emergence of views within Calvinist thought that laid claim to all aspects of the believers life - the same transformation that Weber saw as catalyst for the rise of capitalism. He sees the radicalization of religious belief and political action as having gone hand in hand, laying out a convincing argument to that effect.

Walzer also takes a step further than, or away from, Weber by pointing out that it wasn't the beliefs in Protestantism itself that created radical politics but was more the vehicle that midwifed them and then couldn't maintain relevance to those political developments.

Overall, Walzer's argument is interesting but is not totally convincing. Underlying the work is a not fully disguised angst toward Calvinists and Puritans. Additionally, while he makes a good case for the importance of ideas in explaining social outcomes, there is little in the way of an attempt to incorporate structural and institutional influences on the Puritan movement. It is an important work, and one on which one could improve.