History of revolutions, revolutionary ideas and utopias

Course objectives:
- To introduce students to the complexity of the phenomenon of revolutions, revolutionary ideas and utopias;
- To introduce students to the history of revolutions and their impact on society, economy and culture;
- To introduce students to the different scientific apparatuses and methodologies for the study of revolutions and utopias;
- to teach students to think critically about revolutions, revolutionary ideas and utopias, and their consequences and influences on the development of different social and political meanings both in society and in the everyday life of the individual.

Subject-specific competences:
Students will master the basic concepts of revolutions, revolutionary upheavals and utopias from different perspektives of sociology, cultural studies, history and learn in detail about their methodologies. This will provide students with a comprehensive and reliable insight into the processes of research and the development of theoretical contributions.

General competences:
Analytical thinking skills
Social-critical observation;
Ability to socio-cultural and historical contextualisation;
Ability to participate in debates and to think interdisciplinarily.

The successful integration in the study course is connected to finished BA studies from the fields of sociology, history, cultural studies.

The course deals with the basic concepts of revolution, revolutionary ferment, revolutionary ideas and utopias. The course will cover the history of revolutionary movements and ideas, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, and their theories and practices.

The course is structured around the following thematic objectives:

1. Understanding the definition and meaning of revolutions, revolutionary ideas and utopias. What all revolutions and utopias encompass. From the introduction of Moore's term utopia, to the socialist utopians, Understanding and definition of basic terms and fundamental concepts. Theoretical overviews (Bauman, Hobsbawm, Tilly, Wallerstein).

2. History of revolutions and revolutionary ferment up to the French Revolution: the Netherlands, the British Isles, the Iberian Peninsula, the Balkans - overview.

3. From the French Revolution to the 21st century: the French Revolution, nationalist movements and the Spring of Nations, the Paris Commune, workers' movements, socialist revolutions and the development of internationalism (October Revolution, Spanish Revolution). Overview of integration and mobility within European social movements (border crossings, international networks and connections, travel).

4. History and development of revolutionary movements after the Second World War Peace movement and student social movements after 1968 and Situationism, urban guerrillas and their echoes, the autonomist movement and counter-cultural social movements, the alter-globalisation movement, the Zapatistas, the Occupy movement, Rojava, etc. The interplay and interactions of different global contexts in local social movements and their development. Social-ecology and democratic confederalism and revolution in Rojava and beyond. What revolution and utopia mean today.

5. Theoretical insights into revolutionary movements and revolutionary ideas, different theoretical treatments.

6. Theoretical treatment of revolutionary utopias - an overview of the main theoretical contributions (Bauman, Hobsbawm, Kinna, etc.).

7. Methodological overview and basic methodological apparatuses in the study of revolutionary boils. Archival material, qualitative methodologies, overview and cognition. Methodology for studying and understanding the meaning of revolutions and everyday practices of resistance and their theoretical foundations. Familiarisation with the methodological apparatus (qualitative methodology, militant research).

• understanding revolutionary historical events, revolution as a proces, utopias and their role in revolutionary processes;
• knowledge of the development and history of revolutionary movements and their cultural and social specificities;
• to teach students to think critically about revolutions and utopias from a 'bottom-up' perspective, its development and its consequences;
• the ability to critically assess the validity of a particular research method;
• to carry out research in the subject area of the course.

• Chodorkoff, Daniel. The anthropology of utopia : essays on social ecology and community development. Porsgrunn: New Compass Press, 2014.
• Chrostowska, S. D. in Ingram, James (eds.), Political uses of Utopia, New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Catalogue
• D. della Porta (ed.), The Global Justice Movement. Cross National and Transnational perspectives, Boulder Co., Paradigm, 2007.
• Hobsbawm, Eric, Čas revolucije Evropa 1789–1848, Ljubljna: Sophia, 2010. Catalogue
• Kinna, Ruth in Davis, Laurence (eds.), Anarchism and utopianism, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009.
• Pagon, Neda (ur.), Utopije - še vedno : zbornik o utopijah v 21. stoletju . Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis, 2015. Catalogue
• Tepina, Daša, Revolucionarne utopije: anarhizem v praksah in teorijah, Maribor: Aristej, 2022.Catalogue
• Tilly, Charles, Evropske revolucije 1492-1992. Ljubljana: cf, 2005. Catalogue
• Tarrow Sidney, Power in Movement: Collective Action, Social Movements and Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1994.
• Wallerstein, Utopistike ali Izbira zgodovinskih možnosti 21. stoletja ; Dediščina sociologije : obljuba družbenih ved. Ljubljana: cf*, 1999.

Written or oral exam (60%)
Seminar work / project (40%)

Doc. dr. Daša Tepina je diplomirala iz zgodovine in socioogije kulture na Filozofski fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, kjer je tudi nadaljevala doktorski študij sociologije in leta 2015 zagovarjala doktorsko disertacijo, z naslovom Revolucionarne utopije: anarhizmi skozi teorije in prakse. Zadnji raziskovalni projekti Modeli in prakse mednarodne kulturne izmenjave Gibanja neuvrščenih: raziskovanje prostorsko-časovnih kulturnih dinamik in Protesti, umetniške prakse in kultura spomina v post-jugoslovanskem. Zaposlena je kot docentka na Fakulteti za humanistiko Univerze v Novi Gorici.

Assist. Prof. Daša Tepina, PhD graduated in history and sociology of cuture at the University of Ljubljana. She defended her doctoral thesis entitled Revolutionary utopiy: anarchism in practices and theories. Latest research projects Models and Practices of Global Cultural Exchange and Non-aligned Movement: Research in the Spatio-Temporal Cultural Dynamics and Protests, art practices and culture of memory in the post-Yugoslav context. Currently she is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Nova Gorica,

Selection of articles:
1. TEPINA, Daša. Revolucionarne utopije : anarhizem v praksah in teorijah. 1. izd. Maribor: Aristej, 2022.

1. TEPINA, Daša. Anarchism and the history of social movements in Slovenia. Journal of breath research. 2021, vol. 2, no. 20, str. 1-16.

2. GRAFENAUER, Petja, TEPINA, Daša. Art and rebellion : the struggle for freedom and autonomy at the Ljubljana 2020/2021 protests. Third text. 2022, vol. 36, iss. 5, str. 409-428.

3. TEPINA, Daša. Vrednost umetniškega ustvarjanja in avtonomni prostori na primeru AKC Metelkova mesto. Časopis za kritiko znanosti. 2021, letn. 49, št. 283, str. 103-121.

4. TEPINA, Daša, GRAFENAUER, Petja. Hegemonija kapitalizma in vizualni kod v neuvrščeni Sloveniji. V: et al. Vizualna pismenost : teoretsko raziskovanje, razumevanje, ustvarjanje in interpretacija sodobnosti. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Založba Univerze, 2024. Str. 44-60.

5. GRAFENAUER, Petja, TEPINA, Daša. Cuban representation at the Biennial of Graphic Arts and non-aligned cultural policy. The international journal of cultural policy. [Print ed.]. 2024, vol. 30, no. 2, str. 207-219.

6. TEPINA, Daša. Yugoslav–Egyptian cultural relations : a case study of art intersections in Ljubljana and Alexandria in the 1960s and 1970s. V: PREDAN, Barbara (ur.), TEPINA, Daša (ur.). The culture of the non-aligned : the clash of cultural and political narratives. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana Press, 2023. Str. 199-221, 257-258, 266-267.

7. TEPINA, Daša. Umetniška stičišča : utopije - neuvrščenost. V: PREDAN, Barbara (ur.). Robovi, stičišča in utopije prijateljstva : spregledane kulturne izmenjave v senci politike. Ljubljana: Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino: Akademija za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje, 2022. Str. 77-90,

8. CRNKIĆ, Adin, TEPINA, Daša. Misliti anarhizem v slovenskem prostoru : kronologija in zgodovinski razvoj. Časopis za kritiko znanosti. 2014, letn. 42, št. 257, str. 13-29.

9. TEPINA, Daša. Anarhizem kot revolucionarna utopija. V: PAGON, Neda (ur.), PAGON, Saša (ur.), BORAK, Neven. Utopije - še vedno : zbornik o utopijah v 21. stoletju. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis, 2015. Str. 257-281.