Revolutionary

A revolutionary is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. Since the term "revolution" may be used to refer to a sudden change in any field, one may speak of political revolutionaries, social revolutionaries, revolutionary scientists, inventors, artists, etc.

Related Topics:
Revolution - Political - Social - Scientist - Inventor - Artist

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In a political context, the term "revolutionary" is often used in contrast to the term reformist. While a revolutionary is someone who supports quick and abrupt change, a reformist is someone who supports slow and gradual change.

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Political revolutionaries may be classified in two ways:

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• According to the goals of the revolution they propose. Usually, these goals are part of a certain ideology. In theory, each ideology could generate its own brand of revolutionaries. In practice, most political revolutionaries have been either liberals, nationalists, socialists, communists or anarchists.
• According to the methods they propose to use. This divides revolutionaries in two broad groups: Those who advocate a violent revolution, and those who are pacifists. Perhaps the best known examples of these two types of revolutionaries are Che Guevara and Mahatma Gandhi, respectively.
 
Revolutionary: Alphabetical list of known political revolutionaries ►