What is Revolution in the 21st Century? Towards a Socialist-Feminist World Revolution

Abstract

I consider prospects for revolution in the 21st century, defined here as a thorough-going world revolution that replaces the capitalist world-system with a feminist-inflected democratic socialism. An overview of 20th century revolutions and more recent uprisings suggests distinctive contemporary features, including women’s participation and the diffusion of feminist agendas, but also constraints. In the face of reactionary social movements, and given the limits of ‘horizontalist’ politics, activists could learn from past revolutionary strategies to build a powerful global alliance of progressive forces.