Bio: (1929-2008) American sociologist. Charles Tilly received his doctorate from Harvard and taught at several universities, including Harvard and Columbia. He primarily dealt with historical sociology and developed an analytical framework for researching long-term processes. The focus of his research was the great social changes that took place in Europe after the sixteenth century, primarily: revolutions, the emergence of nation-states, social movements, inequality relations, and the development of democracy. Tilly, through the comparative method, observes the dynamics of these processes through the most important social mechanisms, which can be of the structural, contextual, or relational type. To study the dynamics of social processes, he created a synthetic theoretical framework combining the Marxist theory of class interests, the utilitarian opportunism of John Stuart Mill, and Max Weber's theory of organizational resources. Tilly called his combined approach „relational realism“, while other authors classify his approach to collective action as a theory of resource mobilization.

Tilly studies the creation and transformation of networks of collective actors in different historical contexts and investigates the mediating influence of demographic and technological variables on the activation of political conflicts. He was interested in the interaction between the state and social movements and is especially interested in the influence of the process of creating nations and states in determining the characteristics of movements - their origin, types of their actions, and the creation of collective political identity. He also studied broader issues, such as the processes of state-building and democratization.

                                      European Revolutions

In one of his first books, based on his doctoral dissertation, Vendée (1964), Tilly studies the reasons why the beginning of the counter-revolution (after the French Revolution of 1789) was located in the French region of Vendée. He compared the specific sociological characteristics of rural society in Vendée with those in the Anjou region. He found that complex and changing relations between feudal lords and peasants had developed in the Vendée region. In addition, urbanization influenced the aristocracy and clergy of this region to develop specific interests, which influenced the different reactions of these two classes to the Revolution, compared to the same classes in other regions.

In the book From Mobilization to Revolution (1978), Tilly studies the process of formation and transformation of collective action and creates a theoretical and methodological model for studying social movements and social change. He believes that it is necessary to study the specific context of each collective action so that it can be understood. The most important aspects of the context are the existence of common interests of different actors so that they can be mobilized into a common front. The movements changed their demands over time, while they previously fought against certain measures or policies, later became proactive and began to emphasize completely new demands. The main factors influencing the operation of social movements are interests, organization, and opportunities. Interests affect the organization of the movement, and both of these factors then affect the mobilization of resources for collective action. He introduced the notion of the "action repertoire of the movement", which refers to the strategic re-examination of the relationship between gains and losses that occurs in conflict with the authorities. Tilly believes that collective action is rational and goal-oriented, rather than random and chaotic, so collective actors always question whether their activity will lead to greater benefit or harm to their interests. This collective rationality is not based on individual rationality or individual aspirations but arises from the social relations that rebellious individuals enter into.

In the book As Sociology Meets History (1981), Tilly concludes that collective action is always connected with the established ways in which people, in a particular society and age, express protest, which further affects the form and content of collective action. In the book The Contentious French (1986), he divides the types of collective protests in France by historical age. In the period from 1650 to 1850, the protests were local. The development of capitalism, urbanization, the proletarianization of labor, the increase of police and army, the development of official statistics, and the emergence of political parties and interest groups are the factors that led to collective protests becoming increasingly national and autonomous after 1850. The development of modern political and economic institutions and actors has led to an increase in the possibilities for the national organization of protests, but they have also led to the emergence of completely new collective interests.

Tilly studies revolutions in the book European Revolutions: 1492–1992 (1993) and concludes that his theory of the relationship of interests, organization, and possibilities for the emergence and development of collective action applies to European revolutions, as well as explaining their course and their success and consequences. In Roads from Past to Future (1997), he emphasizes the importance of successful revolutions for the creation of modern states and modern capitalism. The author shifts the focus of his study from institutional and other factors that influence the emergence and development of collective action, to the importance of successful collective action for the emergence of completely new institutional frameworks.

                                 Inequality and Democracy

Tilly deals with the reasons for the long-term survival of many inequalities (class, gender, and race) in the book Durable Inequality (1998). Inequalities that exist between different social groups can be caused by exploitation (Marx) or the accumulation of opportunities (Max Weber). Inequalities persist because organizations, both those in power and those fighting against the government, use these inequalities to be more efficient in their work. New organizations incorporate existing inequalities into their own organizational structure and relationships because they treat these inequalities as given, that is, as external rules of the society in which the organization must operate. The end product of these processes is that both types of organizations reproduce inequalities that already exist in the wider society.

In Contention and Democracy in Europe: 1650-2000 (2004), Tilly studies the processes of democratization and the disintegration of democracy in Europe. Democratization was often the result of struggles, where collective actors, who fought those in power, did not have a direct desire to achieve democratic progress, but democratization was an unintended product of collective action. The non-linear course of the democratization process is influenced by many factors: the dynamics of relations at the local level, slow changes in the political sphere, and the complicated intertwining of social and political relations. The effects of internal disintegration, external conquests, economic crises, and similar processes led to a decline in trust in the government, which opened space for the expression of collective dissatisfaction.

Main works

The Vendée (1964);

An Urban World (1974);

The Rebellious Century: 1830–1930 (1975);

From Mobilization to Revolution (1978);

As Sociology Meets History (1981);

Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons (1985);

The Contentious French (1986);

Coercion, Capital, and European States: A.D. 990–1990 (1990);

European Revolutions: 1492–1992 (1993);

Popular Contention in Great Britain: 1758–1834 (1995);

Roads from Past to Future (1997);

Durable Inequality (1998);

From Contention to Democracy (1998);

Extending Citizenship, Reconfiguring States (1999);

How Social Movements Matter (1999);

Stories, Identities and Political Change (2002);

The Politics of Collective Violence (2003);

Contention and Democracy in Europe: 1650–2000 (2004a);

Social Movements: 1768–2004 (2004b);

Economic and Political Contention in Comparative Perspective (2005);

Trust and Rule (2005);

Identities, Boundaries, and Social Ties (2006);

Why? (2006);

Contentious Politics (2006);

Regimes and Repertoires (2006);

Democracy (2007);

Credit and Blame (2008);

Contentious Performances (2008).