Charles Tilly is an active eminent historian and sociologist from 1964 to 2008. Unlike Max Weber, his study of social mechanisms is historically inspired. He publishes on the politics of contention, the mechanisms of social discontinuity, and the role of war in the formation of states. After his studies in history, he was responsible for research on social restraint while American society faced the anti-racist revolts of the 1960s.
War and States
In 1975, Charles Tilly took over the distinctions of Frederic C Lane concerning the development of capital and coercion in Europe. Faced with the chaos of barbaric invasions in 950AD, society reshaped itself through feudalism. The lords attached to a fief collect a protection rent. According to the later expression of Douglass North these lords are "stationary bandits” installing tolls and taxes, whilst invaders are "roving bandits" who require a tribute to refrain from looting.
The history of the development and formation of European States is according to Tilly that of rulers, who with dishonest intentions, exaggerate, increase conflicts, but also fabricate them in order to cause wars, increase their armies, and justify their power.
If Douglas North describes the government as a "stationary bandit", Charles Tilly describes the State as the apex of organized crime. Despite the nefarious intent, the implementation of a monopoly of violence allows investment, capital training, and social differentiation. In this, the emergence of the State allows the emergence of civilization, even if it was not the intention of the rulers.
The expression "State formation" seemed more neutral to him. In his interview, Tilly notes that the expression was quickly taken up in a teleological framework by advisers of development policies: is this state already formed? Wouldn't it take a long armed conflict to lead to a strong state and a national identity?
Contention politics and social movement
In 1986, Tilly published two titles concerning the study of contentious social movements. These mass movements begin in the middle of the 18th century and continue until today. He distinguishes these recurring mechanisms:
campaign and mobilization of appeal to the action of power
A repertoire of satisfaction: meetings, demonstrations, etc.
The movement must have publicly recognized qualities: justice, unit, number, and commitment.
Social discontinuity mechanisms
According to Tilly, the State does not let citizens have weapons in order to guard against revolutions. For this reason, a revolution is only possible with the defection of the elites of the army.
This explains in particular that coups are generally organized by the army. For revolutions, a delegitimization of government in place is necessary.
This mechanism appeared as well during the Jacobin Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Islamic awakening in 2011 in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya.
Interviews with Daniel Little
I recommend the interviews of Charles Tilly with Daniel Little on YouTube.
Conclusion
Charles Tilly has an exceptional abstraction capacity and yet he uses it to avoid generalizations. It defines social as the set of relationships between humans, and sociology as its study. He considers that Max Weber was sometimes too theoretical and tries to return to a historical description and a science that has a predictive value.
His vision of history is not teleological. It is intended to be descriptive and non -narrative, it has no agenda or a sense of history.