Iran Political Dynamic Essay

In the late 1970's, the world was hit with the events of the Iranian Revolution, a movement in which the Shah was overthrown in replacement with Ayatollah Khomeini. Causes for this movement included the economic, political, and socio-economic conditions in Iran before the Revolution. Economically, the Shah's hopes for the country ended up being their downfalls while politically, the Shah's ruling as a dictator prohibited the freedom of the Iranians. Socio-economically, the Shah didn't place much emphasis on religion, angering the majority of the population. The overthrow of the Shah led to the uprise of a religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, a figure supported by many. Unlike advice

Various factors influenced the 1979 Iranian revolution, but at the core of this significant event was Islamic fundamentalism. The Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, led this movement to end the thirty-seven-year reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, also known as the Shah of Iran (Diller 1991, p.152). The revolution was a combination of mounting social, economic, political and religious strains. The nation of Iran was never colonized, unlike some of its bordering countries, making its people intolerant of external influences. The Shah had gradually westernized and secularized his country, creating a strong American presence that was being felt

The Iranian Regime has been under scrutiny for human rights violations in the recent past. In 2009, Iran had an election, quelling much question of it being an Authoritarian regime. In Iran, “a handful of candidates approved by clerics who are not elected but rather appointed”( Rubin, Habib The Green Revolution in Iran:2012) are the only choices the public has. These candidates have to be approved based on their religious qualifications, and their views. A candidate that is too much of a reformist will not be approved. The 2009 election was between Mir Houssein Mousavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi was a reformist candidate. He supported changing

As mentioned above, Iran was called Persia until 1935. In 1979, it became an Islamic Republic after the revolution. Monarchy was also abolished during this time. Rewinding back to 550 BC, Iranian empires were ruling locations such as Egypt, the Mediterranean and some places in Europe. In AD 633, the Zoroastrian religion was replaced by Islam after the Arabs arrived. Bringing it back to how they run the place now legally, it is based off of sacred law, which is called Islamic law. This just means they follow a sacred text to live their lives. They follow the shari’a law which is “the body of rules of conduct revealed by God (Allah) to his prophet(Muhammad) where people are directed to live their life

When thinking of Iran the first thing that comes to most people's mind is a secluded country that supports terrorism located somewhere in the Middle East. However, like every country in the world, there is more than what news and social platforms portray. Iran has many exports some good some bad and there social classes, government, and economy are much similar to those of the United States. Even though there are negative things about Iran you can't hold the entire country accountable. Bad people will do bad things but every citizen should not fall under those perceptions.

Introduction: In the Western world, people often assume that Iran is an exceedingly religious society. Many Americans still view the country through biases formed after the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. To them, Iran is a country where religion dominates social, political, and economic life. Iran’s infamous Shi’a led government has been the target for ethnocentric and racist rhetoric by American politician. While it has been easy for the United States’ people and government to pigeonhole Iranians as devout Muslims who base their decisions on Shi’a tenets, Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni reveals an entirely different reality. Rather than complying with a theocratic system of rule, Iranians have found methods to defy their government

The Iranian Revolution determined who would have the power to govern the country. In Khomeini’s document, “Unveiling the Mysteries”, he apprises who should have the power to govern a country. He believes the religious leaders should take control when he says, “... the Government must be directed and organized according to the divine law, and this is only possible with the supervision of the clergy”. According to Khomeini, religious leaders should control the government. There would be a president

Peter Berger in The Desecularization of the World Resurgent Religion argues against modernization theory which states as the world modernizes religiosity decreases. Berger contends in the face of empirical evidence secularization theory is untenable. Berger argues it is irresponsible to label the world as "secular" in the midst of empirical evidence. Evidence is presented that suggests the world is no less religious than other times in history with notable exceptions primarily in European regions. “There is no reason to think the world of the twenty-first century will be any less religious than the world is today.” Berger states that the need for individuals to “seek answers, find solutions, and make progress” that only religion can

Iran has always, it seems, been the breeding ground for some kind of political upheaval or another. In recent times, back in 1979, there was a major revolution which was, in some ways, similar to the revolution we are seeing today. The people were angry and they were tired of being controlled by the government that was in power. They had concrete ideals and were incredibly passionate about their revolution. The revolution Iran is experiencing today does not appear to be quite as passionate and does not appear to maintain a belief in any real solid political system. They just know they want something different. In the following paper we present an illustration of the current revolution that is taking

The emergence of the Islamic Republic in late 1970’s Iran demonstrates how middle class Iranian people purged themselves of the Pahlavi Dynasty in an effort to continue down a more righteous and egalitarian path. As a result, the country underwent a complete social upheaval and in its place grew an overtly oppressive regime based in theoretical omnipotence. In response to this regime, the very structure of political and social life was shaken and fundamentally transformed as religion and politics became inexorable. As a result, gender roles and the battle between public and private life were redrawn. Using various primary and secondary sources I will show how the Revolution shaped secular middle class Iranians. Further, I will show how the

It was not until the post-revolutionary period between the years of 1980-1988 that Iranian civil society started to change. A revolutionary state was looking to change the state and contain the power that was already within the government. Under Hashemi Rafsanani’s presidency (1989-1997) Iranian economic and social life underwent important structural changes. The new

Before the revolution, Shah Reza Pahlavi was the ruler of Iran. Under his leadership power was clustered and concentrated among his close allies and networks of friends and others with whom he had close relations. By 1970s, the gap between the poor and the rich was widening and huge distrust about his economic policies grew. Resentment towards his autocratic leadership grew fuelling people to dissent his regime further. Shah now was considered an authoritarian who took full control of the Iran government preventing the Iranians from expressing their opinion. The government has transformed from the traditional monarchial form of government to authoritarian with absolute authority replacing individual freedom of the Iranians. This transformation to Iranian was unacceptable because they needed to control their own affairs. They wanted self-government where they could take control as opposed to what Shah was doing. Shah was seen as a western puppet for embracing authoritarian form of government (Axworthy, 2016).

“Like a series of mirrors facing each other, the revolution depended for its success on a series of perceptions of perceptions.” With this image, Michael Axworthy, a contemporary historian, aptly argues that the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 was possible because people believed that their grievances against the Shah were widespread, thereby creating a gradual sense of unified opposition. Mohammad Reza Shah, the second Pahlavi monarch who ruled Iran from 1941-1979, lived a lavish and alienating lifestyle, trying to emulate western society. With growing discontent towards the Shah and his westernizing reforms, Iranians turned to the Shia Ulema, the Iranian clergy, and other groups for guidance. Demanding a return to traditional culture, which took the form of religious fundamentalism and a separation from the materialism of the west, the Iranian masses rebelled against the Shah’s regime in 1978-79. Because of the Shah’s failure to embrace the economic and social reforms proposed by the opposition, the Iranian masses overthrew the Shah and united around the charismatic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to establish an Islamic Republic.

As Peter Berger (1967) explained religion, it is a sacred canopy under which the entirety of life is explained and regulated. Secularization theory as explained by Weber holds that modernity challenges this sacred canopy through two major ways: increased cultural and structural pluralism and increased primacy of economic pursuits (Emerson and Hartman, 2006:129). With globalisation accelerating in the post Cold War era, causing mass migration across borders, increased interstate interaction and huge growth in the global financial market, it was predicted that religious influence would be relegated to the private sectors of social life by ripping the sacred canopy, and leaving people with, at best, sacred umbrellas (Smith 1998). Despite this, what secularization theory did not anticipate is that the demystification of the world provided within it the seeds both for the re-mystification of the world and resistance to the demystification (Berger, 1992:1). Hence the world today, with some exceptions, is as furiously religious as it ever was, in some places more so than ever (Berger, 1999:8). Since the 1970s there has been a particular rise in religious fundamentalist movements, as signalled by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which led to the establishment of the first Islamic State. As Almond et al note, fundamentalist movements have risen to the highest levels of power in Sudan in 1993, Afghanistan and India in 1996, and in India again

Religious Fundamentalism is not a modern phenomenon, although, there has received a rise in the late twentieth century. It occurs differently in different parts of the world but arises in societies that are deeply troubled or going through a crisis (Heywood, 2012, p. 282). The rise in Religious Fundamentalism can be linked to the secularization thesis which implies that victory of reason over religion follows modernization. Also, the moral protest of faiths such as Islam and Christianity can be linked to the rise of Religious Fundamentalism, as they protest the influence of corruption and pretence that infiltrate their beliefs from the spread of secularization (Heywood, 2012, p. 283). Religious Fundamentalists have followed a traditional