Pahlavi Iran and the Politics of Occidentalism: The Shah and the Rastakhiz Party

Description

This study analyses the politics of Occidentalism in the late-Pahlavi period, focusing on the clash between the pro-Western Shah and the anti-Western Islamic forces which eventually led to the Islamic Revolution. Zhand Shakibi presents a new interpretation of the political and social dynamics of the last decade of the Shah’s rule by moving away from the binary view of the westernizing Shah and the Islamist, anti-West Ayatollah. Instead, he draws attention to the Pahlavi state’s reaction to societal backlash against cultural and political Occidentalism in its last decade. Revising the dominant historiography of the Pahlavi in regard to the West, the book draws attention to the changes in the attitude of the Shah, the Empress and state intellectuals towards the authenticity of Iranian national culture and the position of the West. Drawing on archival sources, this book presents the multi-faceted relationship of the Pahlavi state to the West and the institutions that were created to manage this such as the Rastakhiz Party. This study proposes forward that the Pahlavi state, having recognized the popular backlash against Western influence, attempted to limit the threat to its legitimacy by reformulating intellectual discourses of anti-West Occidentalism and incorporating them into the ideology of the Rastakhiz Party while playing a critical role in exacerbating societal worries about the spread of Western influence. Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Illustrations Preface Chapter 1: Introduction Book structure Pahlavi and Romanov Occidentalism Occidentalism The case for comparison Imagining the West Change and the imagery of the self and other Concluding point Chapter 2: Romanov Occidentalism Romanov Occidentalism Anticlericalism and institutional revolution Historiographical revolution Cultural revolution Nicholas I and the West Chapter 3: The apogee of Romanov Occidentalism The Crimean War Apogee of anti-West Occidentalism The 1905 Revolution: Constitutionalism and anti-West Occidentalism Chapter 4: Pahlavi Occidentalism: The period of Reza Shah Anticlericalism and institutional revolution Historiographical revolution Cultural revolution Chapter 5: Pahlavism Ideology and Pahlavism Historiography Religion and anticlericalism Competing ‘unauthentic’ ideologies Superiority and universality Pahlavism, nationalism and the world Chapter 6: The shah and the imagery of the Occident Censorship policy Chapter 7: The Rastakhiz Party: Ideology and structure Ideology Institutions Rastakhiz publications Chapter 8: Rastakhiz Occidentalism: Identity crisis and preservation of authenticity Occidentosis and the crisis of identity Single-party systems and the Rastakhiz Party of the people of Iran The Philosophy of the Revolution and Party Towards the Great Civilization Chapter 9: Occidentosis: Culture and the arts Filmfarsi ‘The Occidentosis’ of music Occidentosis and the commercial sector Chapter 10: Occidentosis and the Shiraz Arts Festival Chapter 11: Occidentosis and the challenge of imperialism Chapter 12: The curing and preventing of Occidentosis The Revolution in Education Political Education The corruption and eclipse of the West Chapter 13: The apogee of Pahlavi Occidentalism The Amuzegar call to arms Pahlavi modernity Pahlavi and IRI Occidentalisms Epilogue Notes Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Epilogue Select bibliography Periodicals Primary sources Secondary sources Index