Abstract:
ABSTRACT
In 1979 Nicaragua, under the Sandinistas, experienced a
genuine, socialist, full scale, agrarian revolution.
This thesis examines whether Jeffery Paige's theory of
agrarian revolutions would have been successful in
predicting this revolution and ln predicting
non-revolution in the neighboring country of Honduras.
The thesis begins by setting Paige's theory in the
tradition of radical theories of revolution. It then
derives four propositions from Paige's theory which
suggest the patterns of export crops, land tenure changes
and class configurations which are necessary for an
agrarian and socialist revolution. These propositions
are tested against evidence from the twentieth century
histories of economic, social and political change in
Nicaragua and Honduras. The thesis concludes that Paige's
theory does help to explain the occurrence of agrarian
revolution in Nicaragua and non-revolution in Honduras. A
fifth proposition derived from Paige's theory proved less
useful in explaining the specific areas within Nicaragua
that were most receptive to Sandinista revolutionary
activity.
