Revolutionary Change [Paperback]

Chalmers Johnson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 2 edition (June 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804711453
• ISBN-13: 978-0804711456
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #947,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is the author of the bestselling Blowback and The Sorrows of Empire. A frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, and The Nation, he appeared in the 2005 prizewinning documentary film Why We Fight. He lives near San Diego.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sociology Book - Relevant today in post 9 -11terrorism, May 10, 2007

By 

anonymous reviewer (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolutionary Change (Paperback)

This is a sociology book written in the typical dense sociological format (sociological jargon). Sociology is the study of patterns of social behavior - its like the saying "history repeats itself", Sociology documents those repeats. The book was writen in 1966 but the material is still relevant today particularly in post 9-11 terrorism. CHAPTER 8 is devoted to the topic of terrorism. On PAGE 156 the author descusses political terrorism and the consequences or aftermath of a terrorist attack.

From the book word for word CHPT 8 PG 156-157

"by demonstrating through apparently indiscriminate violence that the existing regime cannot protect the people nominally under its authority. The effect on the individual is supposedly not only anxiety, but withdrawal from the relationships making up the established order of society. .... usually has the opposite effect of calling people's attention to the seriousness of the situation and encouraging them to support any strong reassertion of authority"

"..provoke the ruling elites into a disastrous overreaction, thereby creating widespread sentiment against them. ...transform the political situation of the country into a military situation. That will alienate the masses, who, from then on, will revolt against the army and the police and blame them for this state of things."

Its a good book. I recomend it for sociology student but for the typical reader, you might have a problem with all the sociology jargon.