The Impact of Intellectuals and Elites on Modernization in Pahlavi Era

Modernization of the Pahlavi era is roughly described as "top-down modernization". Indeed, the government has planned it. Although these analyses represent an important part of the story, they appear incomplete. First, it seems that the Pahlavi government did not have the willing to undertake the project of modernization in the country. Second, the role of the elite in modernization is often overlooked. Accordingly, the main question raised in the present study is: "How has the intellectual elite and the instrumental elite undertaken the project of the modernization during the Pahlavi era?" The hypothesis of the article states that “in Pahlavi era, intellectuals sharing views with elites in support of modernization, tried to legitimize the actions of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah. However, intellectual gradually became absorbed in the bureaucratic processes and became the neutral agents of them. Thus the interaction between the elites and the Pahlavi rulers was not successful because of their superficiality, imbalance in aspects of modernization, authoritarian political structure and lack of decision-making system”. The data collection technique is a library study.