LOS ORÍGENES SOCIALES DE LA DICTADURA Y LA DEMOCRACIA, DE BARRINGTON MOORE JR.
* Encontramos esta pequeña reseña del clásico texto de Barrington Moore Jr. Como es sabido, el texto de Moore es uno de los fundadores de la política comparada, pues hace un estudio de las condiciones socio-económicas en Alemania, Inglaterra y China que luego produjeron distintos regímenes políticos: fascismo, democracia liberal y comunismo, respectivamente. En el libro de Moore la variable independiente es la relación entre el campesino y el amo, por lo cual dependiendo de si las relaciones entre estos es feudal-agrícola o industrial-comercial se tendrían distintos tipos de regímenes políticos. Este método de análisis influenció notablemente en los primeros trabajos comparados en América Latina (veáse El Estado Burocrático Autoritario de O´Donnell (1982) y El Nuevo Autoritarismo en América Latina de David Collier(1985)). Aunque claro, en el método de análisis todos estos trabajos beben de la tradición de la sociología-histórica comparada, que empezó con Montesquieu y que luego cimentó Alexis de Tocqueville con su libro La Revolución y el Antiguo Régimen.
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The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of The Modern World. Barrington Jr. Moore. 1966.
Review Essay
IS 716
4/4/2006
By Britta Rinehard
Review Essay
IS 716
4/4/2006
By Britta Rinehard
With extensive research data from other scientists, Barrington Moore Jr. explores the political, social and economic change in Great Britain, France, U.S., China, Japan, and India. For various reasons he only mentions Germany and Russia and he did not spend a detailed historical analysis on these two countries. He tries to explain, with the help of the history of the six countries and their social structures, some determining factors that laid the basis for their development and path to modernization. Especially how ready and open were theses societies to develop, change and willing to incorporate technology into their lives? What factors in a society foster democracy, capitalism, fascism or communism?
In the first part of the book, Moore travels back in time of these countries in some cases to the 14th century. However, he focuses mostly on their history of the past 200 years. His emphasis is on the importance of a country’s history to understand it in order to explain the shift and changes of power in society. The modernization phase starts with the commercialization of the agriculture. The paths to reach these changes came with high costs such as the French Revolution, and the Civil War.
In the second part of the book, Moore concludes that the development of modernization can be reached on three different paths. One road is the capitalism democracy; Moore calls it the “bourgeois revolution, which was the road that England took through the Puritan Revolution, the French through the French Revolution, and the United Stated through the Civil War. The second route is the capitalist route, which was the development that took place in Japan and Germany. Moore points out “in the absence of a strong revolutionary surge, it passed through reactionary political forms to culminate in fascism” (p.413). The last and third road is communism, were the main driving force of the revolution are the peasants e.g. China.
Moore’s studies of the three different “social origins” of modern nations reaches the conclusion that in those countries where the middle-class was the driving force of the revolution, e.g. England, democratic institutions emerged and resulted in a democratic capitalist society. However, in those countries were the revolts came from the peasant, or the top, the democratic institutions did not emerge and resulted in fascist state-capitalist societies. In the case of Japan, “the adaptability of Japanese political and social institutions to capitalist principles enabled Japan to avoid the costs of a revolutionary entrance onto the state of modern history. The price for avoiding a revolutionary entrance has been a very high one” (p 313). According to Moore, without the Civil War in America, the French Revolution in France or the Puritan Revolution in England the old world would have not been able to transform and destroy its restrictions and give way and choose its path to develop and modernize.
Crucial parts of the puzzle are the main actors, the landlords and peasants and the distribution of power among them. The commercialize agriculture process differed tremendously among the countries. In England, the peasant community was destroyed by the larger growing estates and” was operated more and more on commercial principles: (p. 25). In France, the wrenching of the peasants through the aristocracy, through extracting higher surplus, become unbearable and favored the conditions in France for revolts.
The third and last part in the book, called Theoretical Implications and Projections, Moore revisits his six countries and some other ones e.g. Italy. He tries to identify again the different factors promoting democracy, capitalism, fascism or communism. Once the reader has gained the knowledge of the history and the importance of the relationship between lord and peasant, it is easier to understand the theory Moore is trying to proof and to follow his explanations.
Barrington Moore’s extensive work of combining research and linking historical events and the social changes, lord, peasant and bourgeois relationship to the outcome of dictatorship and democracy is insightful. He covered an abundance of material to explain the pieces of the puzzle. I think his work could be a great resource for any country that aspires a democratic government and strong, supporting society. Also, I find the journey of the studied countries helpful for those who would like to think that democracy is a stage that all modernizing countries will eventually reach. Last but not least I think it is important to realize that the process of becoming a democratic society cannot be “dictated” by one democratic government to a non-democratic government. As the book illustrates, several components and favorable conditions are necessary for a democracy to occur and most importantly to sustain.
In the first part of the book, Moore travels back in time of these countries in some cases to the 14th century. However, he focuses mostly on their history of the past 200 years. His emphasis is on the importance of a country’s history to understand it in order to explain the shift and changes of power in society. The modernization phase starts with the commercialization of the agriculture. The paths to reach these changes came with high costs such as the French Revolution, and the Civil War.
In the second part of the book, Moore concludes that the development of modernization can be reached on three different paths. One road is the capitalism democracy; Moore calls it the “bourgeois revolution, which was the road that England took through the Puritan Revolution, the French through the French Revolution, and the United Stated through the Civil War. The second route is the capitalist route, which was the development that took place in Japan and Germany. Moore points out “in the absence of a strong revolutionary surge, it passed through reactionary political forms to culminate in fascism” (p.413). The last and third road is communism, were the main driving force of the revolution are the peasants e.g. China.
Moore’s studies of the three different “social origins” of modern nations reaches the conclusion that in those countries where the middle-class was the driving force of the revolution, e.g. England, democratic institutions emerged and resulted in a democratic capitalist society. However, in those countries were the revolts came from the peasant, or the top, the democratic institutions did not emerge and resulted in fascist state-capitalist societies. In the case of Japan, “the adaptability of Japanese political and social institutions to capitalist principles enabled Japan to avoid the costs of a revolutionary entrance onto the state of modern history. The price for avoiding a revolutionary entrance has been a very high one” (p 313). According to Moore, without the Civil War in America, the French Revolution in France or the Puritan Revolution in England the old world would have not been able to transform and destroy its restrictions and give way and choose its path to develop and modernize.
Crucial parts of the puzzle are the main actors, the landlords and peasants and the distribution of power among them. The commercialize agriculture process differed tremendously among the countries. In England, the peasant community was destroyed by the larger growing estates and” was operated more and more on commercial principles: (p. 25). In France, the wrenching of the peasants through the aristocracy, through extracting higher surplus, become unbearable and favored the conditions in France for revolts.
The third and last part in the book, called Theoretical Implications and Projections, Moore revisits his six countries and some other ones e.g. Italy. He tries to identify again the different factors promoting democracy, capitalism, fascism or communism. Once the reader has gained the knowledge of the history and the importance of the relationship between lord and peasant, it is easier to understand the theory Moore is trying to proof and to follow his explanations.
Barrington Moore’s extensive work of combining research and linking historical events and the social changes, lord, peasant and bourgeois relationship to the outcome of dictatorship and democracy is insightful. He covered an abundance of material to explain the pieces of the puzzle. I think his work could be a great resource for any country that aspires a democratic government and strong, supporting society. Also, I find the journey of the studied countries helpful for those who would like to think that democracy is a stage that all modernizing countries will eventually reach. Last but not least I think it is important to realize that the process of becoming a democratic society cannot be “dictated” by one democratic government to a non-democratic government. As the book illustrates, several components and favorable conditions are necessary for a democracy to occur and most importantly to sustain.
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