Social Science, Communism, and the Dynamics of Political Change
Author(s)
Janos, Andrew C.
Abstract
In the past thirty years the comparative study of communism as conducted in the United States has rested on two conceptual pillars: Weber’s theory of routinization and Spencer’s notion of progress through industrialism. This article points out some of the limitations of these theories and then develops a more comprehensive framework for comparisons. One of the keys to understanding of communist politics is the model of a “military society,” also formulated by Spencer but generally ignored by contemporary social science. In terms of this model, communism is presented as a militant geopolitical response to international inequalities, the initial logic of which has been undermined by technological developments in the period following World War II.
