Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Revolutions are among the most transformative events in human history. Analyzing 395 revolutionary episodes from 1900 to 2014, we find that major waves cluster around solar maxima - periods of intensified geomagnetic activity. Drawing on biomedical research linking geomagnetic disturbances to cardiovascular and stress regulation, and thus to emotional states, we propose that solar cycles modulate the affective ecologies within which revolutions arise. Solar activity may accelerate, shape, and amplify revolutionary cycles by heightening emotional climates and tipping fragile systems toward mass mobilization. This reframes revolutions as planetary events - entanglements of political conflict, embodied emotion, and cosmic rhythms.
Keywords
revolutions, solar cycle, emotions, affective ecologies, planetary rhythms, political ecology
Recommended Citation
Hernandez, Andreas; Carolina Zilli Vieira; Alexandra Smith; and Rebecca Olson. "When Emotions Flare: Solar Rhythms, emotions and cycles of political revolution." (2025). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/geog_fsp/3
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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