Why Men Rebel

by Ted Robert Gurr

The description for this book, Why Men Rebel, will be forthcoming.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science, Academic, International Relations, Sociology

421 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Dr Noor Sabah · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب قديم من سنة ١٩٧٠
يبحث موضوع واشكالية الى الان موجودة في العالم وخاصة عالمنا العربي وهي لماذا يتمرد البشر وما الذي يدعوهم للتمرد والثورة واللجوء للعنف وقابليتهم للعنف ضد النظام
دراسة متكاملة قائمة على البحث والنظريات والفرضيات التي تتطرق للكثير من المصطلحات لاثباتها أو نفيها وأعطى تفسير لأسباب الشغب في المدن والثورات التي اندلعت في المستعمرات اضافة لتحليل ظاهرة الثورة
ولم تخلو الدراسة من التحليل الاجتماعي والنفسي الى جانب التحليل السياسي لكافة الامور
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ويحتوي الكتاب عناوين مثل العنف السياسي والحرمان النسبي مع توضيح كل ما يتعلق بالحرمان وما هي الايديولوجيات المتعلقة بالعنف وبعدها التوازن القسري والسيطرة من جانب الجهة الحاكمة والمنشقين عنها
هناك الكثير من المصطلحات التي تؤدي للعنف منها :
الاحباط - الحرمان - القمع - الكبت - الكوارث الطبيعية - السخط- الفصل العنصري- الفقر والحال الاقتصادية السيء وغيرها من الامور
ومن اساليب العنف :
العدوان - الشغب - الانقلابات- الثورات - الصراع- الحرب ( الحرب الاهلية) - الارهاب - التمرد وغيرها من الاساليب
واندرج في الكتاب الكثير من الأمثلة لتوضع هذه الحالات في تمرد البشر والعنف الحاصل .. فعلى مر التاريخ كان هناك الكثير من الامثلة في كثير من الدول .
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[Mehul Dhikonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why Men Rebel offers a broad academic overview of how the intensity and scope of collective deprivation, public dissent, and regimes' reaction may shape political violence in intensity and magnitude. It sources empirical evidence from global events of mass unrest up till the mid-1960s to support the various hypothesis and their corollaries.

Despite its great length and details, there are some major considerations it misses out on. For example, it considers broad economic and social structures as a cause for discontent but does not examine the varying nature of grievances amongst people and their beliefs about justice and injustice.

A summary of this book can serve as a handbook in fulfilling political/power aspirations, both for the ruling regime and the rebel leadership.

[Raúl Zepeda Gil · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Tilly said in a book review. This book was a great sponge of the research on political violence at the end of the 60s. Contrary to the idea that Gurr proposed somehow a very thin idea of relative deprivation, the empirical approach is quite different: personal preferences and psychological data was in play, not the gini index. In that sense, his work has remarkable coincidences with the institutional anomie theory of Robert Agnew. Nevertheless, the disappointment comes when he tries to create a catch all theory and does not archived it, because by combining theories arrives to sketchy conclusions. Tilly was right in the sense that Skcopol and Tarrow had better insights at the moment. Also, the individual approach at the beginning erodes at the end of the book to become too structural. Or even, this new edition tried to fix by doing a new section on rational choice that now feels a bit outdated.

I would recommend it for beginners in the discussion of relative deprivation. I would certainly avoid any assessment based on replication not based in the theoretical grounds that Gurr wrote. Better to know them first hand.

[Warren Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books that keeps popping into your head long after you finish it.

What impressed me most was Gurr’s idea of relative deprivation: not that people rebel because they’re poor, but because they feel the gap between what they expect and what they actually get has become intolerable. That sounds obvious now, but seeing it applied across very different cases made it click in a deeper way. It explains why revolts can happen during periods of growth, not just collapse.

The book is analytical rather than dramatic. There are no heroic narratives here, no romantic language about revolution. Gurr is interested in patterns, triggers, and incentives, and he sticks to that even when it makes rebellion look less noble and more predictable.

However, some parts of it feel dated, especially the heavy social-science language and some of the case framing. You have to work a bit to translate the theory into today’s terms.

Still, it’s a foundational book for a reason. If you’re trying to understand why unrest happens and not just who fought whom... this is a sharp, sobering read.

[Brittany McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expect lots of citations to this in forthcoming papers/dissertation material.

[Gamal soliman · Rating 3 out of 5]

يتلخص المحتوى بان هناك قناعه علميه بان لدى الناس قابليه للعنف السياسى و ان ظاهره العنف السياسى من الظواهر الطبيعيه والمتوقعه فى عصرنا الحالى

[Sagar]

mom recc

[Abdullah M. M. S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأت النسخة المترجمة للعربية و قد كانت مفيدة جداً. كنت أتمنى، كما أنصح من ينوي قراءة هذا الكتاب أن يقرأ النسخة الإنجليزية.
دراسة مفصلة و غنية جداً عن صفة التمرد عند مجاميع البشر، و تبين أنواعها و الدوافع الأساسية من ورائها.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is thick, hard to get through, but is worth the effort. I had to skim/speed read as I borrowed this from someone, but this book is a necessity for anyone interested in why people rebel and why some don't.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great theoretical overview of the causes of rebellion and conflict within large identity groups.