Weil 2 : Revolution

• Written

  1934
• Published

  1955
• Text is centred around communism and the Russian revolution
• Freedom


  Comes from the individual's ability to act freely (people are unable to do this if they are in a system of production where they must answer to someone)
• Believes that the 1930s are a period of revolution
• Revolutions arise from genuine grievances and aspirations for freedom and equality
• True Revolution


  • Must involve a transformation of consciousness (emphasis similar to Sartre?)
• We can't explore social order - we must look for social oppression
• Shifting control in the factory

  From a structure of subordination to a structure of collaboration
• Productive work


  Should only exist for the purpose of production - all work should be producing something useful
• The individual


  Has been suppressed into the collective - freedom should mean that the individual can act in any way that they want
• A true revolution

  • Will involve a profound transformation of consciousness (transcends more than political / economic reforms)
• Oppression experienced by the worker in the capitalist system aims to dispossess the worker of revolutionary spirit
• Critical of the proletarian revolution
• The individual


  Will not be able to achieve a true revolution unless they have a genuine desire to revolt
• Violent revolutions tend to perpetuate cycles of oppression and injustice rather than achieving any genuine liberation
• Violence will only result in more violence that will lead to the consolidation of power in the hands of new oppressors
• Critical of the Russian revolution - the revolution simply transferred the oppressive system into new hands
• If the power just transfers then where has the revolution occurred?
• Oppression is not changed in any way in a revolution that acts as a transferral of power
• Paragraph 1 : TRUE REVOLUTION MUST TRANSFORM CONSCIOUSNESS
• Paragraph 2 : USE OF VIOLENCE
• Importance of Collective Action :

  Acknowledgement of oppressive systems (capitalism and imperialism) that need collective action to be properly dismantled
• Must involve a transformation of society :

  Must adapt social, political and economic structures to produce a more equitable world