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The Nonrevolutionary Peasantry of Modern Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Farhad Kazemi  and
Ervand Abrahamian
Farhad Kazemi
Affiliation:
New York University Baruch College of the City University, New York
Ervand Abrahamian
Affiliation:
New York University Baruch College of the City University, New York
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Extract

The persistence of tradition needs explanation as much as change. It may be that people cleave to ancestral ways through general inertia, but it is more likely that there are good and sufficient reasons behind such persistence, much as there are good and sufficient reasons for change.

The social scientist studying the modern world is inevitably struck by the importance of peasant rebellions. In some countries--such as Russia, Yugoslavia, Albania, China, Cuba, and Vietnam--peasant rebellions have helped bring about communist revolutions. In others--such as Mexico, Algeria, Kenya, and recently Angola--they have contributed toward the success of nationalist revolutions. In yet other countries--including Spain, Greece, Peru, India, Phillippines, Malaya, and Indonesia--they have helped shake, even though they have not destroyed, the foundations of the old order. The social scientist studying Iran, however, is struck not by the importance but by the conspicuous absence of any large-scale peasant rebellions in the modern era.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 1-4: State and Society in Iran , 1978 , pp. 259 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1978

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Footnotes

This is a joint enterprise and the order of the authors’ names does not imply seniority of authorship. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Los Angeles, November 1976, and at the University of Chicago, February 1977. We would like to thank Shahen Abrahamian, Ali Banuazizi, James A. Bill, Dale Eickelman, Grace Goodell, Eric Hooglund, Nikki R. Keddie, Joseph Upton, and Marvin Zonis for commenting extensively on earlier drafts of this paper. Of course, they are not responsible for any errors and opinions found in the paper.

References

Notes

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