Armchair revolutionary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armchair revolutionary (or armchair activist and armchair socialist) is a description, often pejorative, of a speaker or writer who professes radical aims without taking any action to realize them, as if pontificating "from the comfort of the armchair". The term is one of a family of "armchair experts" or "armchair theorists", such as the armchair warrior or armchair general.
In 1937, Nikolai Berdyaev wrote: "After years of living in Western Europe, Plekhanov became entirely a Western and of a very rationalist sort, fairly cultured, although his culture was not of the highest kind; more of an armchair revolutionary than a practical one. He could be a leader of a Marxist school of thought, but he could not be a leader of a revolution; that was made clear at the time of the revolution".[1]: 94
Columnist Julie Burchill highlighted the relative level of energy exhibited in this lede: "During a long hard winter, nothing warms the cold blood of the Western armchair revolutionary more than the sight of a bunch of attractive dark-skinned people out on the streets having a right old revolution".[2]
Left Communists have frequently been accused of armchair practices by the more Marxist-Leninist wings of Marxist movements.[3] Amadeo Bordiga, a notable Italian left communist, particularly has been ascribed this title due to his frequent critique of the Soviet economic model.[citation needed]
