Search Results

Unintended Consequences: The Lead-Up to the Iranian Revolution

Lior B. Sternfeld

in Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran

The ultimate success of the nation-building project, led by the Shah, was evident in the decade leading up to the revolution—when the Jewish community in Iran finally achieved its release from ... More

The ultimate success of the nation-building project, led by the Shah, was evident in the decade leading up to the revolution—when the Jewish community in Iran finally achieved its release from traditional loyalties and viewed itself, first and foremost, as Iranian. This chapter explores the first manifestations of Jewish revolutionary discourse and actions and discusses postrevolutionary Iran and a new nation-building paradigm that Jews faced following the Islamic revolution. This chapter follows the Jewish response to the rapidly unfolding events: from the Shah’s overthrow through the redefinition of the Iranian national identity, from the Iran-Iraq War to the post-Khomeini period. In the post-Khomeini era, Iranian Jews had to navigate between their religious ancestral homeland (Israel) and their national and political homeland (Iran). They had to deftly maneuver between the misinterpretations and deceptions that characterized the harsh rhetoric between Israel and Iran.Less

Khomeini’s Perplexed Pakistani Men: Importing and Debating the Iranian Revolution Since 1979

Simon Wolfgang Fuchs

in In a Pure Muslim Land: Shi'ism between Pakistan and the Middle East

This chapter argues that during the early months and years after the Iranian Revolution, Pakistani Shi‘i ‘ulama remained primarily occupied with domestic events. Even ardent supporters of Khomeini ... More

This chapter argues that during the early months and years after the Iranian Revolution, Pakistani Shi‘i ‘ulama remained primarily occupied with domestic events. Even ardent supporters of Khomeini were not sure what his authority should mean for them outside of Iran. Additionally, Pakistan’s Shi‘is at that time were engaged in their own political mobilization against the military dictator Zia ul-Haq (d. 1988). A second step in the reception can be discerned with the rise of the young cleric Sayyid ‘Arif Husayn al-Husayni (d. 1988) to the helm of Pakistan’s most influential Shi‘i organization at the time, the Movement for the Implementation of Ja‘fari Law (TNFJ), in 1984. Husayni clearly and consistently drew on the hallmark themes of the Iranian Revolution. In doing so, however, he was often forced to bend aspects of the revolutionary message, like Muslim unity or the leadership of the clerics (vilayat-i faqih), to his Pakistani context. The chapter also pays attention to the unprecedented embrace of Iranian ideas that is anchored in contemporary Lahore.Less

The Long Shadow of the Iranian Revolution

Frederic M. Wehrey

in Sectarian Politics in the Gulf: From the Iraq War to the Arab Uprisings

This chapter examines the seminal impact of the Iranian Revolution on Persian Gulf societies in general and on Shi'a–Sunni relations in particular in the post-2003 era. A seismic event in Gulf ... More

This chapter examines the seminal impact of the Iranian Revolution on Persian Gulf societies in general and on Shi'a–Sunni relations in particular in the post-2003 era. A seismic event in Gulf political life, the Iranian Revolution and its aftermath continue to weigh heavily on sectarianism, acting as a lens through which domestic actors view regional events such as the Iraq War, the 2006 Lebanon War, and, less explicitly, the Arab uprisings of 2011. Since 2003, Gulf regimes have deployed tactics that bear a striking resemblance to those pursued in the aftermath of the revolution: preemptive reforms to mitigate Shi'a discontent, “sectarian balancing” (co-opting Sunnis to balance the Shi'a), and tacitly encouraging vitriolic anti-Shi'a discourse by Sunni clerics, repression, and censorship. Most significant, however, the revolutionary decade highlighted the importance of domestic institutions as buffers against external ideological influences and as determinants of regime threat perception.Less

The Internationalisms of the Iranian Revolution

Matthew K. Shannon

in Losing Hearts and Minds: American-Iranian Relations and International Education during the Cold War

The conclusion studies the groups of U.S.-trained revolutionaries that returned to Iran to contribute to the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic.

Toy Guns and the Real Dead in Iran

Jamal J. Elias

in Alef Is for Allah: Childhood, Emotion, and Visual Culture in Islamic Societies

This chapter follows the pattern of the previous two: it begins with a brief history of education and religion in modern Iran in order to situate the discussion of representations of childhood in the ... More

This chapter follows the pattern of the previous two: it begins with a brief history of education and religion in modern Iran in order to situate the discussion of representations of childhood in the society. It brings together poster arts and children’s books that are each the focus of the two previous chapters, and adds other visual materials, especially postage stamps. In the case of Iran, the focus is on materials produced by official and parastatal entities as part of a conscious policy of opinion molding and propaganda. Visual materials commemorating the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, and the Basij volunteer soldiers serve as subjects to advanced theories presented in the previous chapters. In particular, this chapter moves forward the discussion of gender and sacrifice, demonstrating how male and female opportunities for offering the gift of sacrifice occur in different forms and at different ages.Less

The Law of the Household: Foucault, Neoliberalism, and the Iranian Revolution

Melinda Cooper

in The Government of Life: Foucault, Biopolitics, and Neoliberalism

The chapter by Cooper argues that Foucault’s engagement with the early phases of the Iranian Revolution sheds a great deal of light on his understanding of neoliberalism as a new normative order of ... More

The chapter by Cooper argues that Foucault’s engagement with the early phases of the Iranian Revolution sheds a great deal of light on his understanding of neoliberalism as a new normative order of the household (oiko-nomia). On Cooper’s reading, Foucault’s fascination with the ideology of the Iranian Revolution betrays his intention to recover the “ancient” understanding of the nomos of the household in order to offset Becker’s neoliberal “new household economics” that threatens to destroy all sexual discipline, all substantive sexual normative order, by turning every individual into the entrepreneur of his or her own body and sexuality.Less

Homophobia as a Tool of Statecraft: Iran and Its Queers

Katarzyna Korycki and Abouzar Nasirzadeh

in Global Homophobia: States, Movements, and the Politics of Oppression

This chapter demonstrates how the Iranian state, far from being the pawn of Western machinations, has varied its stance toward homosexuality in pursuit of its objectives—namely modernization, ... More

This chapter demonstrates how the Iranian state, far from being the pawn of Western machinations, has varied its stance toward homosexuality in pursuit of its objectives—namely modernization, consolidation, and most recently, deliberalization. In doing so, it has refashioned family and gender relations, positioned itself concerning the imperial appetites of the West, and centralized and expanded its power. To trace how this happened, the chapter anchors the story around three moments in which anti-homosexual rhetoric and practice have been deployed. First is the modernization moment lasting from the early nineteenth century to the onset of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Second is the Islamic nation-state consolidation moment following the revolution. Third is the conservative backlash following the attempted liberalization of 1997 and persisting until today.Less

Longing for the State: Dialectics of the Local and the Transnational in Sunni-Shiʿi Sectarianism

Simon Wolfgang Fuchs

in In a Pure Muslim Land: Shi'ism between Pakistan and the Middle East

This chapter studies the changing discourses of sectarianism since the 1970s. During this decade, anti-Shi‘i rhetoric was the prerogative of Ahl-i Hadis scholars with close ties to Saudi Arabia. The ... More

This chapter studies the changing discourses of sectarianism since the 1970s. During this decade, anti-Shi‘i rhetoric was the prerogative of Ahl-i Hadis scholars with close ties to Saudi Arabia. The polemics of the famous agitator Ihsan Ilahi Zahir (d. 1987) were centered on doctrinal points. The chapter contends, however, that for the ‘ulama of Pakistan’s most virulent anti-Shi‘i group, the Sipah-i Sahabah-i Pakistan (Army of the Companions of the Prophet; SSP), the Iranian Revolution constituted a threatening attempt at world domination and subversion of the fundamentals of Islamic politics. Even though these Deobandi scholars—in the vein of Zahir—still highlighted doctrinal incompatibilities between “real” and Shi‘i Islam, the Shi‘is were now primarily framed as a political problem: they blocked Pakistan from being molded into its true form: namely, that of a Sunni state with aspirations to global leadership. In formulating their answer to Khomeini, these sectarian Sunni ‘ulama attempted to reclaim the caliphate as a divinely sanctioned office that strikingly resembled and transcended Iran’s model of government.Less

Revolutionary Cinema and the Logic of Reform

Blake Atwood

in Reform Cinema in Iran: Film and Political Change in the Islamic Republic

Establishes reform as a cinematic category, the inheritor of revolutionary cinema in certain state-controlled cinemas. It surveys the contentious position of film in revolutionary discourse in Iran ... More

Establishes reform as a cinematic category, the inheritor of revolutionary cinema in certain state-controlled cinemas. It surveys the contentious position of film in revolutionary discourse in Iran and connects "reform cinema" to the scholarship on Third Cinema and Post-Third Cinema aesthetics. This chapter also establishes Mohammad Khatami's professional career as an organizing scheme for the book and discusses the tenets most important to his political platform.Less

Translators’ Introduction

Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā

in Charand-o Parand: Revolutionary Satire from Iran, 1907-1909

This chapter provides an introduction to Charand-o Parand. In the early years of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1906–11), Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā (1879–1956) published a series of satirical ... More

This chapter provides an introduction to Charand-o Parand. In the early years of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1906–11), Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā (1879–1956) published a series of satirical columns under the title Charand-o Parand for the social democratic newspaper Sur-e Esrāfil (SE). Sur-e Esrāfil, which began publication on May 30, 1907, adopted an uncompromising anticolonialist position and routinely exposed the machinations of Western diplomats in Iran, specifically those of Russia and Great Britain. But it reserved its harshest criticisms for the clerical establishment, both the lowest-ranking members of the caste of mullas, who were blamed for propagating ignorance and superstition, and those belonging to the highest echelons who had openly sided with the anticonstitutionalist faction. The popularity of the Charand-o Parand columns made SE one of the best-known publications of the Constitutional Revolution and a harbinger of modern journalism in Iran. The remainder of the chapter briefly assesses the historical period in which SE appeared, the life and career of Dehkhod rā, and the groundbreaking contributions of the Charand-o Parand essays.Less

Thinking the Unthinkable: The Revolutionary Movement in Iran

Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi

in Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution After the Enlightenment

The chapter draws a detailed picture of how the revolutionary movements in Iran began and the contingencies within which it unfolded. It highlights its religious character and shows how that ... More

The chapter draws a detailed picture of how the revolutionary movements in Iran began and the contingencies within which it unfolded. It highlights its religious character and shows how that characteristic manifested itself in the revolution’s symbolic expressions and rhythm.Less

Miscellaneous Issues

GEORGE H. ALDRICH

in The Jurisprudence of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal

This chapter reviews the Decisions by the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal on certain issues. One result of the Iranian Revolution was the abrupt and massive departure from Iran of foreign ... More

This chapter reviews the Decisions by the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal on certain issues. One result of the Iranian Revolution was the abrupt and massive departure from Iran of foreign nationals, including Americans. The concept of liability for wrongful expulsion was first referred to in dicta in International Technical Products Corp., et al. v. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, et al. The Tribunal noted that the claimants conceded that they had decided to leave Iran in December 1978 because of the conditions then prevailing, and the Tribunal concluded that it could decide the claims and counterclaims without deciding whether they were expelled from Iran. The first expulsion Award by the Tribunal was Alfred L. W. Short v. The Islamic Republic of Iran, and it held that the claimant had failed to prove that his departure was attributable to wrongful conduct by Iran.Less

A Light Footprint in Bahrain

Geoffrey F. Gresh

in Gulf Security and the U.S. Military: Regime Survival and the Politics of Basing

After declaring independence in 1971, Bahrain signed a basing agreement with the United States, prompted by external security fears associated with Iran’s desire to annex the tiny island nation. But ... More

After declaring independence in 1971, Bahrain signed a basing agreement with the United States, prompted by external security fears associated with Iran’s desire to annex the tiny island nation. But when the Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973 with the U.S. supporting Israel in the war, Bahrainis violently voiced their outrage over the U.S. naval presence. In late 1973, the Bahraini government announced that the U.S. naval basing agreement would be terminated. The U.S. lost its homeport at Jufair, but it was able to negotiate the maintenance of a light footprint including the presence of an administrative support unit for U.S. naval regional logistics. This chapter examines both the domestic security challenges faced by the Khalifas during this period and the politics involved in the homeport expulsion.Less

Writing the History of the Present

Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi

in Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution After the Enlightenment

This chapter raises the question of how one can write history of the present without preconceived commitments to a universal History. It proposes that thinking about history is only meaningful if ... More

This chapter raises the question of how one can write history of the present without preconceived commitments to a universal History. It proposes that thinking about history is only meaningful if historical agents promote novel possibilities and act toward them.Less

The Politics of Myth

Bruce Lincoln

in Discourse and the Construction of Society: Comparative Studies of Myth, Ritual, and Classification

Using an episode from Swazi resistance to British colonial power as an example, this chapter shows how narratives can be elevated to mythic status in order to achieve desired political results. ... More

Using an episode from Swazi resistance to British colonial power as an example, this chapter shows how narratives can be elevated to mythic status in order to achieve desired political results. Alternatively, familiar myths can be renarrated and reinterpreted to advance specific interests, as is shown by close study of rival variants of the Nuer creation myth or the way the Shi’a Karbala narrative was reworked in the Iranian Revolution.Less

Alireza Alavi-Tabar and Political Change

Ali Mirsepassi

in Democracy in Modern Iran: Islam, Culture, and Political Change

This chapter details an interview with Alireza Alavi-Tabar, a leading Islamic intellectual and activist. The interview reveals the complex evolution that political perspectives have undergone through ... More

This chapter details an interview with Alireza Alavi-Tabar, a leading Islamic intellectual and activist. The interview reveals the complex evolution that political perspectives have undergone through the decades of political practice following the Islamic Revolution, and explains the theoretical shift that brought them to view democracy as the primary end of all practice. The interview is set up within a larger theoretical discussion of the problem of modern revolution and social change linked to the heritage of the French revolutionary paradigm and the revolutionary experiences of the twentieth century leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s. It also discusses the significance of the Iranian Revolution within the larger twentieth-century national revolutions between discourses of universal liberation and cultural authenticity.Less

America and Middle Eastern Oil

Steve A. Yetiv

in The Petroleum Triangle: Oil, Globalization, and Terror

This chapter explains the rising role of oil in American foreign policy toward the Middle East and, in doing so, identifies key signposts of the rise of the oil era in the Middle East. This enables a ... More

This chapter explains the rising role of oil in American foreign policy toward the Middle East and, in doing so, identifies key signposts of the rise of the oil era in the Middle East. This enables a better understanding of what role American actions may play in motivating terrorism and how those actions are perceived and misperceived. The story of the petroleum triangle cannot be understood without a sense of America's role and of the broader rise of the oil era. The chapter discusses events such as the discovery of oil in the Middle East in the early twentieth century; changes in the behavior and fortunes of actors in the Middle East that politicized oil; oil during the Cold War; the impact of the 1979 Iranian Revolution; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and America's response; and the U.S.-led Invasion of Iraq in 1991.Less