Revolution qua Restoration

Abstract

Abstract:Revolution and restoration are usually understood as opposite terms. This article aims to disarticulate this binary. Suppose the modern concept of revolution can be defined as a project of social reorganization led by the state or by a constituent power that aims to become the state. In that case, the restoration is a defense of society, institutions, traditions, and customs from the state. However, restoration is also an expression of a different political orientation of the revolutionary trajectory. The temporality of revolution is mainly future oriented, whereas the restorative temporality implies continuity, the reactivation of institutions from the past, and their experimentation in everyday life. These two temporal dimensions are intertwined. They can either combine in new political configurations or oppose each other in progress and regress, forward and backward. This article examines the Zapatista insurgency in Chiapas as an example that combines the two temporal dimensions.