تاریخ نامه انقلاب
سال سوم شماره 5 (بهار و تابستان 1399)

The victory of Islamic Revolution in Iran was a major phenomenon that not only violated political balance in the Middle East, but also paved the way for emergence of diversified theories by domestic and foreign researchers and scholars. As a result, they released various narratives on the history of Islamic Revolution. In the meantime, as a result of sustainability of the Revolution new stances on historiography emerged so that in addition to scholars and scientific circles, the early revolutionary forces, both supporters and opponents, became active in clarifying the Islamic Revolution from their own point of view. Given the above, the pathology of Islamic Revolution historiography is one of the most important requirements of the contemporary historiography in Iran that is expected to speed up its growth and innovation. The pathology of factors threatening the pillars and fundamentals of the Islamic Revolution historiography is an essential measure that is highly needed to prevent the emergence and growth of those threats. To that end, this paper, developed through a descriptive-analytical procedure and library method is to find an appropriate answer to the following question: What factors threaten the pillars of Islamic Revolution historiography? Results of the study indicate that such factors as dearth of reference books and documents on some incidents, distortion of Islamic Revolution prospects, lack of an appropriate roadmap, non-specialized managers at the helm of historiography, journalistic approach toward historiography, etc. are among the most outstanding factors threatening the Islamic Revolution historiography.

Although the ever-growing Islamist movement under Imam Khomeini played a key role in the formation and final victory of the Islamic Revolution during 1978-1979, the Islamic Revolution was also assisted – however less sensible - by the influence and participation of three political currents known as the National Liberal spectrum, the Leftwing or Leftists and Eclectic ideology. After the Revolution, Tudeh Party of Iran, as the most influential Leftist political organization, tried to gain political power and social prestige although its role in the revolutionary developments was not outstanding. This paper intends to study the policies and approaches of Tudeh Party of Iran from the establishment of the Islamic Revolution to the constitutional referendum (April 1, 1979 through Dec. 3, 1979) toward the newly established Islamic Republic and the rival political currents for promoting and consolidation of its position in political and social arena of the country.The research method called for historical review of the subject under study through process tracing. Findings of the research work indicate that Tudeh Party of Iran had opportunistically tried to display an approach toward revolutionary causes and goals, relatively similar to the Islamist current under Imam Khomeini, through highlighting and accentuating Islamic Revolution and Islamic Republic’s anti-imperialistic doctrine. At the same time, the party maintained an opposing and even hostile position against the National Liberal current and other Leftist parties and political groups who favored – unlike Tudeh Party – an anti-Soviet Union tendency claiming their ideology was incompatible with that of the Islamic Revolution.

This paper intends to study King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s political character with a psychological approach during his 37 years of reign in Iran to explore his understanding of personal personality and his modernist plans in leading the Iranian nation toward what he called the “great era of civilization” in comparison with his real personality and public reaction against it. With an eye on Karen Horney’s theory, we will review the Shah’s political character from his childhood to various periods during his reign to reflect on how he moved from disease to please and populism to elitism and authoritarianism to clarify his understanding of the realities and their feedbacks in the society. The Shah of Iran had a dual personality. Considering a Divine mission for himself in leading the nation toward progress, denouncing the opponents as obstacles to salvation, and using national myths and legends and religious traditions to charismatize his reign and character are among the elements within his personality for review and criticism.

It was during the premiership of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh that the pursuit of independence and freedom, and tolerance of dissent gained momentum as dominant discourse, challenging part of despotic discourse of the royal court. As a result, Iran’s political spectrum became more pluralistic, the Shah’s power was restricted, political parties became diversified, power became legal and democratic, and the dissent enjoyed maximum tolerance on the part of the government. Enacting the Press Law not only stipulated maximum tolerance of the dissent, but also state-run organizations were banned to bring an action against the press criticizing the government or the prime minister. This is why Mosaddegh period is known in contemporary history as “the age of free press”. The dominant discourse in that period encompassed independence, freedom, civil sovereignty, political participation and public welfare. During his 28 months of premiership, Mosaddegh administered the country almost without petrodollars. Unaffected by lack of oil incomes, the crisis-stricken, stagnating and bankrupt national economy regained its footing and became an example of a balanced economy. These indexes indicate that the collection of Mosaddegh’s plans, achievements, and beliefs during 28 months of premiership had maximum compatibility with criteria of political development.

No doubt the Islamic Revolution in Iran has imposed drastic changes on foreign countries’ political balance approaches vis-à-vis Iran.  The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran and revamping of Iran’s foreign policy based on Imam Khomeini’s idea of exporting Islamic Revolution gave birth to new approaches in Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign communications and exchanges. The idea of exporting the revolution and its endorsement by Imam Khomeini as a priority for Iranian foreign policy during the early years after the victory of Islamic Revolution was welcomed by politicians as a benchmark for Iran’s interaction with the other world countries. This paper has tried to readdress “exporting revolution” as one of the frequently used concepts in the political literature of the early post-revolution years within the semantic scope of Imam Khomeini’s political thought in two dimensions of spreading Islam and justice. It has to be mentioned that the analysis of these two dimensions in exporting revolution does not mean ignoring other dimensions in Imam Khomeini’s political ideology. This is because various aspects in Imam Khomeini’s political ideology overlap in some cases.

The study of the role of social forces in political developments has been generally accepted as an essential part of political sociology. Social classes are categorized as distinct social forces playing a role in analysis of the performance of social forces. Among different social classes, the role of traditional middle class has always been outstanding in social and political developments in Iran. This paper intends to study the role of traditional middle class in Iran’s political developments during Islamic Revolution’s period of establishment. As far as methodology is concerned, this study is a descriptive-analytical work that has used library and documentary method. The theoretical framework for analysis of the traditional middle class is Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital and class distinction, who has tried to argue the relation between various capitals and social classes. Findings of this paper indicate that the traditional middle class in Iran during the establishment of Islamic Revolution could defeat other classes through appropriate use of various economic, social, political, cultural and symbolic capitals to enjoy a hegemonic role in the country’s political power structure.

This research is an attempt to find an appropriate answer to the principal question of “What approach did the Iranian Writers’ Association (IWA) and its members adopt during the last two decades of Pahlavi reign and what were the measures taken by its members?” Results of the research indicate that the Iranian Writers’ Association was founded in response to the cultural policies of Pahlavi reign. The Leftists held the intellectual dominance in the association, although there were also other intellectual tendencies more or less active in this cultural institution. The majority of the association’s members were both cultural elites with outstanding political affiliations. Their membership in political groups and parties such as Tudeh Party of Iran, Society of Socialists and the National Front had necessarily developed IWA from a conservative and non-active body into a tactful circle in confrontation with political and cultural issues of the Iranian society. In spite of its cultural approach, this association entered the political struggles at an era of the Iranian history to exert influence on flaring up of the protests against the Pahlavi regime. However, the discord among its members in the head of the revolution, particularly in the course of second-term elections for secretaries, and their attitudes toward the revolutionary developments, restricted their effectuation.