Armchair revolutionary

Last updated

Armchair revolutionary (or armchair activist and armchair socialist) is a description, often pejorative, of a speaker or writer who professes radical aims without taking any action to realize them, as if pontificating "from the comfort of the armchair". The term is one of a family of "armchair experts" or "armchair theorists", such as the armchair warrior or armchair general.

Contents

Examples

In 1937, Nikolai Berdyaev wrote: "After years of living in Western Europe, Plekhanov became entirely a Western and of a very rationalist sort, fairly cultured, although his culture was not of the highest kind; more of an armchair revolutionary than a practical one. He could be a leader of a Marxist school of thought, but he could not be a leader of a revolution; that was made clear at the time of the revolution". [1] : 94 

Columnist Julie Burchill highlighted the relative level of energy exhibited in this lede: "During a long hard winter, nothing warms the cold blood of the Western armchair revolutionary more than the sight of a bunch of attractive dark-skinned people out on the streets having a right old revolution". [2]

Left Communists have frequently been accused of armchair practices by the more Marxist-Leninist wings of Marxist movements. [3] Amadeo Bordiga, a notable Italian left communist, particularly has been ascribed this title due to his frequent critique of the Soviet economic model.[ citation needed ]

In culture

The Guardian used the cliche in this headline: "We’re a nation of armchair activists—and that's OK, says Bridget Christie". [4]

William Graham titled his travel book Latin America: Notes from an Armchair Revolutionary. [5]

In December 2014, The BMJ published a study, possibly satirical in intent and described as "lighthearted" in NHS Choices , with the purported purpose of determining how political affiliation correlates with literal physical activity levels. The study's stated conclusion was that literal "armchair socialists" as a class do not exist as holders of political views toward either end of the spectrum (left or right) tend to be more physically active than political centrists. [6] [7]

References

  1. ↑ Berdyaev, Nikolai (1960) [first published 1948; first edition published 1937]. The origin of Russian communism (new ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States: University of Michigan Press. ISBN   978-0-4720-6034-4.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  2. ↑ Burchill, Julie (3 February 2011). "Armchair revolutionaries: be careful what you wish for in the Middle East". The Independent . Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "A Twenty-Year Legacy of Ultra-Leftism". www.marxists.org. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  4. ↑ Christie, Bridget (11 April 2015). "We're a nation of armchair activists—and that's OK, says Bridget Christie". Protest. The Guardian . Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  5. ↑ Graham, William (2016) [first published 1988 by Venceremos Productions]. Latin America: notes from an armchair revolutionary. Morrisville, North Carolina, United States: Lulu Press. ISBN   978-1-326-82759-5.
  6. ↑ Bauman, Adrian; Gale, Joanne; Milton, Karen (11 December 2014). "Are "armchair socialists" still sitting? Cross sectional study of political affiliation and physical activity". Christmas 2014: Going to Extremes. The BMJ . 349: g7073. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7073. PMC   4263957 . PMID   25500112.
  7. ↑ Bazian (15 December 2014). "Political hardliners 'fitter' than 'fence sitters'". Lifestyle and exercise. NHS Choices . Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.