https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241245215 Critical Sociology 2024, Vol. 50(6) 1039–1067 © The Author(s) 2024 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/08969205241245215 journals.sagepub.com/home/crs Is the Fifth Generation of Revolution Studies Still Coming? Leonid Grinin and Andrey Korotayev HSE University and Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia On Revolutions: Unruly Politics in the Contemporary World. By Colin J. Beck, Mlada Bukovansky, Erica Chenoweth, George Lawson, Sharon Erickson Nepstad and Daniel P. Ritter. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. 272pp. £74.00 (hardback). £23.99 (paperback). ISBN: 9780197638361. The Revolutionary City: Urbanization and the Global Transformation of Rebellion. By Mark R. Beissinger. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022. 592pp. $37.00 (paperback). ISBN: 9780691224749. After the Arab Uprisings: Progress and Stagnation in the Middle East and North Africa. By Shamiran Mako and Valentine M. Moghadam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. 264pp. $89.99 (hardback). $29.99 (paperback). ISBN: 9781108454797. Introduction—Why Have We Chosen the Generational Aspect? Recently, several significant studies have been published on revolutions, various aspects of the theory of revolution, and revolutions of recent times—the 21st century. Some of these studies will be discussed in this review essay. These studies deserve the most careful reading and analysis, consideration of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the aspect of research chosen by the authors, theoretical approaches, analysis of their methodology, or the depth of showing certain revolutionary events, which must be done. However, in this review essay, we will analyze these works from the point of view of considering the prospects of the so-called fifth generation of revo- lution studies. Of course, this generational approach is subject to criticism. For example, Radu- Alexandru Cucută (2013) talks about generational deadlock and writes that ‘the generational perspective remains impermissibly flexible and elusive, ignoring the main paradigmatic debates within the field of study’ (p. 1107). Colin Beck and Daniel Ritter (2021) are also generally critical of this bias, which creates a false premise. They encourage us to look at ideas, rather than attributing them to one generation or another. There is a rational grain in this criticism. In no case should we limit ourselves to such an analysis or make the division into generations of researchers absolute. But, however, one cannot absolutize any approach as the only correct and true one. Each approach has its own advantages Corresponding author: Andrey Korotayev, HSE University, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 20 Myasnitskaya, Moscow 101000, Russia. Email: akorotayev@gmail.com 1245215CRS 0 0 10.1177/08969205241245215Critical SociologyGrinin and Korotayev review-article 2024 Symposium: Emerging Fifth Generation Theories of Revolution