Institute for Iranian Studieshttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/3062024-03-28T07:26:18Z2024-03-28T07:26:18ZNarratives of grievance and victimisation in Iranian foreign policy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and President Manhood AhmadinejadMoinian, Mahnazhttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/275272023-05-12T20:32:51Z2023-06-15T00:00:00ZThis thesis investigates one of Iran’s grand narratives, the myth of victimisation, as a tool of the Iranian political elite to achieve foreign policy goals. It studies the leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979), Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq (1951-1953), Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1979-1989), and President Mahmood Ahmadinejad (2005-2013) to argue that the sense of grievance of justice denied has had a cultural provenance, rooted in historical, literary and religious references spanning centuries. Accordingly Iranian leaders have been able to pursue and perpetuate narratives that have served to cast Iranians as victims of foreign intrigue, thus relieving themselves from accountability and inaction.
The narrative of grievance has had a resurgence with the rise of populism around the world, but as an ideational catalyst in Iranian politics, where it has been at play for decades, it has received scant attention. The leaders studied in this thesis have each employed this narrative to varying degrees and effects, to cast the world as a battleground between victim and victimizer. This process was most evident in the lead up to and in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution, when Ayatollah Khomeini and President Ahmadinejad repurposed the myth of victimisation to launch and export the revolution. While the Shah and Prime Minister Mosaddeq disseminated such myths to extract favourable concessions from foreign powers, mainly the United States and Great Britain.
As a result, the grounding of Iran’s most exigent foreign policy issues in myths and populist narratives has led to an incongruity between its potential and its current standing in the community of nations.
2023-06-15T00:00:00ZMoinian, MahnazThis thesis investigates one of Iran’s grand narratives, the myth of victimisation, as a tool of the Iranian political elite to achieve foreign policy goals. It studies the leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979), Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq (1951-1953), Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1979-1989), and President Mahmood Ahmadinejad (2005-2013) to argue that the sense of grievance of justice denied has had a cultural provenance, rooted in historical, literary and religious references spanning centuries. Accordingly Iranian leaders have been able to pursue and perpetuate narratives that have served to cast Iranians as victims of foreign intrigue, thus relieving themselves from accountability and inaction.
The narrative of grievance has had a resurgence with the rise of populism around the world, but as an ideational catalyst in Iranian politics, where it has been at play for decades, it has received scant attention. The leaders studied in this thesis have each employed this narrative to varying degrees and effects, to cast the world as a battleground between victim and victimizer. This process was most evident in the lead up to and in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution, when Ayatollah Khomeini and President Ahmadinejad repurposed the myth of victimisation to launch and export the revolution. While the Shah and Prime Minister Mosaddeq disseminated such myths to extract favourable concessions from foreign powers, mainly the United States and Great Britain.
As a result, the grounding of Iran’s most exigent foreign policy issues in myths and populist narratives has led to an incongruity between its potential and its current standing in the community of nations.Resurrecting empire : Iranian imperial nationalism in 1919Grobien, Philip Henninghttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/253912023-07-14T02:06:22Z2022-06-16T00:00:00ZNarratives of the late Qajar period have considered Iran a country in decline, unable to engage effectively with British and Russian modernity, spearheaded by imperial practices. Yet, in truth, this account requires a re-appraisal. This thesis examines the dialectic between a pre-modern Iran and the modern forces Iran faced and will show how Iran engaged with and applied western achievements which were eventually used in an Iranian paradigm.
This thesis focuses on Iran’s diplomacy after the First World War and, in particular, Iran’s attendance at the Peace of Paris in 1919. It will show that Iran followed a persistent and lengthy pursuit to reclaim territory and was to put forward a nationalist programme which sought a sovereign and independent Iran. This nuanced nationalism, an imperial nationalism, used modern methods and sought integration into the post-war world order.
Using previously unused primary sources, this thesis will interrogate Iran’s loss of territory and examine how this informed Iran’s post-war diplomacy. In doing so it will highlight an under-researched area and show that Iran espoused a far more consolidated nationalistic approach in 1919 which included an increasingly modern and professional diplomatic approach. Modernity and imperialism helped to precipitate the loss of territory, however, the loss of territory informed Iran’s distinct nationalism in 1919. An imperial nationalism, which was founded on a framework of empire locked into ideas of sovereignty.
2022-06-16T00:00:00ZGrobien, Philip HenningNarratives of the late Qajar period have considered Iran a country in decline, unable to engage effectively with British and Russian modernity, spearheaded by imperial practices. Yet, in truth, this account requires a re-appraisal. This thesis examines the dialectic between a pre-modern Iran and the modern forces Iran faced and will show how Iran engaged with and applied western achievements which were eventually used in an Iranian paradigm.
This thesis focuses on Iran’s diplomacy after the First World War and, in particular, Iran’s attendance at the Peace of Paris in 1919. It will show that Iran followed a persistent and lengthy pursuit to reclaim territory and was to put forward a nationalist programme which sought a sovereign and independent Iran. This nuanced nationalism, an imperial nationalism, used modern methods and sought integration into the post-war world order.
Using previously unused primary sources, this thesis will interrogate Iran’s loss of territory and examine how this informed Iran’s post-war diplomacy. In doing so it will highlight an under-researched area and show that Iran espoused a far more consolidated nationalistic approach in 1919 which included an increasingly modern and professional diplomatic approach. Modernity and imperialism helped to precipitate the loss of territory, however, the loss of territory informed Iran’s distinct nationalism in 1919. An imperial nationalism, which was founded on a framework of empire locked into ideas of sovereignty.Can I play with madness : American missionaries in Iran during the 1960s and 1970sHopkins, Philip Ohttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/178862021-03-24T15:49:58Z2019-06-27T00:00:00ZThis thesis studied the interaction of American Protestant missionaries with Iranians during
the 1960s and 1970s. It focused on the missionary activities of four American Protestant
groups: Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, International Missions, and Southern Baptists.
It argued that American missionaries’ predisposition toward their own culture confused
their message of the gospel and added to the negative perception of Christianity among
Iranians. This bias was seen primarily in the American missionaries’ desire to modernise
Iran through education and healthcare, and between the missionaries’ relationship with
Iranian Christians. Iranian attitudes towards missionary involvement in these areas were
investigated, as was the changing American missionary strategy from a traditional method
where missionaries had final say on most matters related to American and Iranian Christian
interaction to the beginnings of an indigenous system where a partnership developed
between the missionary and the Iranian Christian. Freedoms that American missionaries
were given under Mohammed Reza Shah to be overt in their evangelistic and discipleship
activities, and details of the amount of Christian material propagated, were investigated. As
missionaries eventually withdrew from Iran’s education and healthcare systems, more
opportunities to be involved in Christian and Western activities were given to Iranian
Christians. Finally, the state of the Iranian Church after 1979, when American missionaries
were expelled from the country, was contrasted with the Iranian Church during the Pahlavi
era. This section explained that while Iranian Christians were thankful for American
missionaries, they were also resentful because Iranian Christians wanted Christianity to fit
better within Iranian accepted norms and practices.
2019-06-27T00:00:00ZHopkins, Philip OThis thesis studied the interaction of American Protestant missionaries with Iranians during
the 1960s and 1970s. It focused on the missionary activities of four American Protestant
groups: Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, International Missions, and Southern Baptists.
It argued that American missionaries’ predisposition toward their own culture confused
their message of the gospel and added to the negative perception of Christianity among
Iranians. This bias was seen primarily in the American missionaries’ desire to modernise
Iran through education and healthcare, and between the missionaries’ relationship with
Iranian Christians. Iranian attitudes towards missionary involvement in these areas were
investigated, as was the changing American missionary strategy from a traditional method
where missionaries had final say on most matters related to American and Iranian Christian
interaction to the beginnings of an indigenous system where a partnership developed
between the missionary and the Iranian Christian. Freedoms that American missionaries
were given under Mohammed Reza Shah to be overt in their evangelistic and discipleship
activities, and details of the amount of Christian material propagated, were investigated. As
missionaries eventually withdrew from Iran’s education and healthcare systems, more
opportunities to be involved in Christian and Western activities were given to Iranian
Christians. Finally, the state of the Iranian Church after 1979, when American missionaries
were expelled from the country, was contrasted with the Iranian Church during the Pahlavi
era. This section explained that while Iranian Christians were thankful for American
missionaries, they were also resentful because Iranian Christians wanted Christianity to fit
better within Iranian accepted norms and practices.The impact of the modernisation of Iran on Kurdish society : modernity, modernisation and social change (1920-1979)Cabi, Maroufhttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/178172021-03-05T12:49:26Z2019-06-27T00:00:00ZThis PhD study examines the consequences of modernity and modernisation for Kurdish-Iranian society in the twentieth century. It identifies a dual process of socio-economic transformation and homogenisation of culture and identity, the dialectics of which (re)formed the economic, social, political and cultural structures of modern Kurdish society in Iran. As a result, socio-economically, Kurdish society became integrated in modern Iran, whereas it vigorously resisted homogenisation of identity and culture; at the same time, it maintained porous cultural borders with other societies in Iran, and continued to be shaped by mechanisms of modern cultural encounters. The socio-economic transformation of Iran strengthened and created new bonds between societies in Iran, while at the same time resistance and struggle for political and cultural rights became permanent characteristics of Kurdish-Iranian society. During the modernisation of Iran, the era of the ‘White Revolution’ is distinguished for the profound transformation of Iran it entailed. Therefore, an interpretation of the era constitutes the main concern of this thesis because, building on previous attempts to modernise Iran, the era of the White Revolution was crucial in engendering profound changes in Kurdish society.
The theoretical framework of this study is informed by theories of social change and transformation against modernisation theories, and by theories of nation and nationalism which theoretically enable this research to distance itself from national narratives. Significantly, this framework includes a range of cultural critiques, benefits from studies of homogenisation and state formation, and relies on rich scholarly works on the formation of modern Iran, which, when combined, accentuate the cultural, political and social dimensions of modern nation-building in Iran. The result is a multi-dimensional approach to social change in Kurdish society. It is the dynamics of the dual process which continue to (re)form the foundations of Kurdish society in Iran; and it is this approach which I regard as a crucial contribution to both Kurdish and Iranian studies.
2019-06-27T00:00:00ZCabi, MaroufThis PhD study examines the consequences of modernity and modernisation for Kurdish-Iranian society in the twentieth century. It identifies a dual process of socio-economic transformation and homogenisation of culture and identity, the dialectics of which (re)formed the economic, social, political and cultural structures of modern Kurdish society in Iran. As a result, socio-economically, Kurdish society became integrated in modern Iran, whereas it vigorously resisted homogenisation of identity and culture; at the same time, it maintained porous cultural borders with other societies in Iran, and continued to be shaped by mechanisms of modern cultural encounters. The socio-economic transformation of Iran strengthened and created new bonds between societies in Iran, while at the same time resistance and struggle for political and cultural rights became permanent characteristics of Kurdish-Iranian society. During the modernisation of Iran, the era of the ‘White Revolution’ is distinguished for the profound transformation of Iran it entailed. Therefore, an interpretation of the era constitutes the main concern of this thesis because, building on previous attempts to modernise Iran, the era of the White Revolution was crucial in engendering profound changes in Kurdish society.
The theoretical framework of this study is informed by theories of social change and transformation against modernisation theories, and by theories of nation and nationalism which theoretically enable this research to distance itself from national narratives. Significantly, this framework includes a range of cultural critiques, benefits from studies of homogenisation and state formation, and relies on rich scholarly works on the formation of modern Iran, which, when combined, accentuate the cultural, political and social dimensions of modern nation-building in Iran. The result is a multi-dimensional approach to social change in Kurdish society. It is the dynamics of the dual process which continue to (re)form the foundations of Kurdish society in Iran; and it is this approach which I regard as a crucial contribution to both Kurdish and Iranian studies.The development of the legal parameters of the waqf institution in contemporary Iran and its socioeconomic impactJafar-Shaghaghi, Kayhanhttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/45092021-02-26T03:02:31Z2014-01-01T00:00:00ZThis thesis argues that the laws of waqf in Iran lack modern relevance. Such laws have never been
completely modernised, and the waqf system, no longer responsible for the delivery of public
goods, still holds a vast array of properties and resources. Many of the ongoing socioeconomic and
political disappointments of Iran, which, at the core, are the weakness of the country’s private
economic sector and its human capital deficiency, stand among the lasting consequences of the
deficiency of resources which the institution of waqf has under its control.
Traditional Islamic law laid the ground for the economic infrastructure of the Middle Eastern
countries until the late 19th century. Among the institutions that contributed to shaping the economy
of the region are the Islamic law of inheritance, which inhibited capital accumulation; the absence
in Islamic law of the concept of a corporation and the consequent weaknesses of civil society; and
the waqf, which locked vast resources into unproductive organisations for the delivery of social
services. It is often argued that many of these obstacles to economic development were largely
overcome through radical reforms initiated in the 19th century. However, the modern civil law of
Iran has kept traditional Islamic law at the core of laws of waqf, and the process of modernisation of
its laws remains incomplete.
2014-01-01T00:00:00ZJafar-Shaghaghi, KayhanThis thesis argues that the laws of waqf in Iran lack modern relevance. Such laws have never been
completely modernised, and the waqf system, no longer responsible for the delivery of public
goods, still holds a vast array of properties and resources. Many of the ongoing socioeconomic and
political disappointments of Iran, which, at the core, are the weakness of the country’s private
economic sector and its human capital deficiency, stand among the lasting consequences of the
deficiency of resources which the institution of waqf has under its control.
Traditional Islamic law laid the ground for the economic infrastructure of the Middle Eastern
countries until the late 19th century. Among the institutions that contributed to shaping the economy
of the region are the Islamic law of inheritance, which inhibited capital accumulation; the absence
in Islamic law of the concept of a corporation and the consequent weaknesses of civil society; and
the waqf, which locked vast resources into unproductive organisations for the delivery of social
services. It is often argued that many of these obstacles to economic development were largely
overcome through radical reforms initiated in the 19th century. However, the modern civil law of
Iran has kept traditional Islamic law at the core of laws of waqf, and the process of modernisation of
its laws remains incomplete.