The Embourgeoisement of Revolutionary Regimes: Reflections on Abdallah Laroui

Abstract

This article analyzes the evoution of revolutionary regimes. In it, I argue that the theory of revolution advanced by the Moroccan scholar Abdallah Laroui in thel960s and 1970s is especially useful for understanding this evolution. Unlike classic Marxism, and the many "Marxian" interpretations of revolution drawing inspiration from it, Laroui's theory of revolution provides an explanation of how the embrace of capitalism and the West by revolutionary regimes is far from being aberrant behavior: it is the logical consequence of the normal process of embourgeoisement in revolutionary states. The problems with his theory as examined here, however, illustrate how the decision by a revolutionary regime to pursue embourgeoisement might not necessarily be successfully implemented.