Jules Monnerot
In The Sociology of Communism, French sociologist and political philosopher Jules Monnerot deconstructs communism as a secular religion. It is often argued that Russian communism was not “true” communism and does not invalidate Marxist doctrine; the Sociology of Revolution is a refutation of Marxist doctrine, as well as a comparative study of the three great revolutions: the English, French, and Russian. Monnerot’s critique of Marxist theories of class struggle, the mission of the proletariat, the primacy of economics over politics, etc., leaves only an ideology accompanied by myths beneath the scientific appearance of the doctrine. He finds these myths, which he sees as common to all three revolutions, dating back to the dawn of time and constantly reappearing throughout the egalitarian millennium, messianic movements, and apocalypses, whose history he traces.