This volume questions whether ideas of revolution are still relevant in the postmodern and globalized world of the twenty-first century.

Featuring contributions from some of the world's leading sociological and political thinkers on revolution, it combines theoretical concerns with a variety of detailed case studies of individual revolutions. Subjects covered include:

• democracy and revolution from 1789 to 1989


• twentieth century revolutions and theories of revolution, including Marxism, modernization and structuralist theories


• revolution in the "Third World" and the variable geometry of the paths to modernity


• Islamic revolutions and modernity


• the 1989 revolutions as "democratic revolutions" or "elite-led transitions"


• globalization, the nation-state and revolution


• empire and "democratic revolution"


• network society and revolution


• Islamic fundamentalism, international terrorism and revolution


• democratic revolution as a new form of revolution


• postmodern theories of revolution


• new social movements, identities and new figures of revolution.

Revolution in the Making of the Modern World will be essential reading for students and scholars of comparative politics, political theory, revolution and political sociology.