DISCUSSION: Do Revolutions Ever Truly Succeed?

Discussion: Do Revolutions Ever Succeed, Or Do They Replace One Form of Power with Another?

Revolutions are often driven by hope: the promise of freedom, justice, and a better future. But history shows a more complicated picture. Do revolutions truly transform power structures, or do they end up recreating new elites, new hierarchies, and new forms of control?

From the French and Russian Revolutions to more recent uprisings across the world, radical change has often led to unintended consequences. While some see revolutions as necessary engines of progress, others argue they frequently betray their original ideals.

Suggested article to spark reflection:
https://education.cfr.org/learn/reading/understanding-revolutions

✅ Free entrance (just grab a drink at the bar to support the venue!)

Revolutions raise difficult questions about power, human nature, and political imagination. Are cycles of domination inevitable? Can real systemic change happen without reproducing oppression? And what does it actually mean for a revolution to “succeed”?

In this discussion, we’ll explore whether revolutions can genuinely dismantle unjust systems, why power so often re-concentrates, and what historical examples can teach us about political change.

Some guiding questions:

💬 Do revolutions create lasting freedom or simply new rulers?
💬 Why do revolutionary movements so often drift away from their original ideals?
💬 Is violence a necessary tool for change — or a path to new authoritarianism?
💬 Are gradual reforms more effective than radical upheaval?
💬 What would a revolution that truly empowers people look like?

Join us for an open and thoughtful conversation where all perspectives are welcome.

📅 Tuesday, 3 February
🕖 19:30 – 21:30
📍 Hostel Pulcinella, Bogaardeplein 1 – 2000 Antwerpen

👉 RSVP to let us know you’re coming!