The Turning Point

The turning point is not a single event but a period during which the speculative excess of the installation phase collides with the institutional deficit of the society, and the collision produces a crisis that opens a window for institutional reform. What gets built during that window determines the trajectory of the revolution for decades. The Victorian factory legislation, the New Deal, the post-war social compact — each was constructed during a turning point's window. The window opens because crisis concentrates political attention. It closes when the crisis passes, either because the institutional innovations have been built or because the political will dissipates. The historical record shows both progressive and regressive resolutions; the outcome is not determined by the pattern but by the choices made during the window.