Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Passing the Torch: Iran’s 2013 Surprise, the Digital Generational Gap, and the Depoliticization of Public Intellectuals

  • Published:
International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Scholars of the sociology of intellectuals have proposed that the decline of public intellectuals is due to two factors: the result of the professionalization of academic disciplines and political shocks in transitional societies through social movements and revolutions. Eyal and Buchholz (Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 117–137, 2010) instead argue that a new mode of intellectual intervention takes place in an “interstitial domain”; that is, a blurry space between the political field and academia. Absent in the literature of the sociology of intellectuals and interventions is the impact of varying perceptions of regime dynamics on shifting modes of political intervention that can pave the way for the depoliticization of public intellectuals. Drawing from Eyal and Buchholz, this study examines the depoliticization of public intellectuals and particularly religious public intellectuals, during Iran’s 2013 presidential race. The political authority of public intellectuals was challenged by an emergent generation of tech-savvy activists with “high journalistic profiles.” I argue that a new generation of activists intervened in the election across the overlapping space of journalism, digital activism, and political activism. As the new generation of activists “movementized” the election on Facebook—developing a different perception of the political regime and the election—against conservative candidates (“regime insiders”), they portrayed the moderate candidate as the “regime outsider.” Prominent public intellectuals framed all presidential candidates as regime insiders, however. By analyzing the “hope and despair narratives” of the 2013 election, this study relates the depoliticization of public intellectuals to digital activism of the new generation of activists to make sense of the “digital generational gap.”

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. There are a few comparative works in this area: i.e., Collins 1998; Eyal and Buchholz 2010; Kurzman and Leahey 2004.

  2. I owe this phrase to Jen Schradie (2018).

  3. Hashemi was one of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.I) after the 1979 revolution.

  4. A more exhaustive sample of representations of religious public intellectuals in the conservative outlets, as well as their papers and comments, which were published in Kian and Zanan, will be provided by the author upon the request.

  5. Scholarship on the Green Movement has been enriched since the rise of the movement: e.g., Harris (2012); Hashemi and Postel (2010).

  6. Ali Rabii, one of the leading reformists turned to the minister of labor in the Rohani’s first government, reported this surge of support and excitement as follows: “Had not been disqualified, Hashemi would have won the election by sweeping victory of forty million votes” (Aseman Weekly, July 27, 2013).

  7. According to the Guardian Council’s official report, Hashemi’s age (78) persuaded the Council to disqualify him from the presidential race (sharghdaily.ir, July 27, 2013).

  8. Mohsen Renani, one of the most sociologically oriented economists, clearly explains disillusionment of public intellectuals in 2013: “...It is rather ironic and unique in the modern Iranian history; right now, ordinary people are concerned and active, but reformists and intellectuals are frustrated. We should be realistic like ordinary people… we should try to choose a non-militarist president, even if he is not among reformists.” (sharghdaily.ir, June 1, 2013)

  9. Rather than using “conservative” (mohafezekar), Iranian conservatives self-identify as principlist (osulgra). See Mohebian (2000).

  10. Due to the privacy issue, all nonpublic references from the Facebook pages have been quoted after getting the permission of Facebook activists.

  11. It should be mentioned that the late Ali Shariati and the late Mehdi Bazargan are known to be the first generation of Iranian religious public intellectuals.

  12. Additionally, other young activists/journalists such as the previously mentioned Hooman Doorandish (May 25, 28, and 30, 2013), Matin Ghaffarian (March 12, May 28, 2013), Sajjad Salek (June 13, 2013), Pouyan Fakhraie (June 11, 2013), and Mojtaba Najafi (June 11, June 12, 2013), and so forth produced Facebook texts encouraging people to vote for reformist candidates before and after the disqualification of Hashemi.

  13. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

References

  • Amanat, A. (2009). Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi’ism. London: I. B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayatollahi Tabaar, M. (2018). Religious statecraft: The politics of Islam in Iran. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baert, P., & Booth, J. (2012). Tensions within the public intellectual: Political interventions from Dreyfus to the new social media. International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 25, 111–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayat, A. (2007). Making Islam democratic: Social movements and the post-Islamist turn. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bennet, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2014). The logic of connective action: Digital media and the personalization of contentious politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond, R., & Messing, S. (2015). Quantifying social media’s political space: Estimating ideology from publicly revealed preferences on Facebook. American Political Science Review, 109(1), 62–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1988). Homo academicus. Translated by Collier P. Stanford. California: Sanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozoki, A. (1999). Introduction. In A. Bozoki (Ed.), Intellectuals and politics in Central Europe (pp. 1–15). Budapest: Central European University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, C., Joseph, G., James, M., Steven, P., & Indermohan, V. (2012). Contemporary sociological theory. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. (1998). The Sociologies of philosophies: A global theory of intellectual change. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culic, I. (1999). The strategies of intellectuals: Romania under communist rule in comparative perspective. In A. Bozoki (Ed.), Intellectuals and politics in Central Europe (pp. 43–71). Budapest: Central European University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daghagheleh, A. (2018). Ambivalent voting behavior: Ideology, efficacy, and the socioeconomic dynamic of voter turnout in Iran, 1997–2005. Sociological Forum, 33(4), 1023–1044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. (2010). Liberation technology. Journal of Democracy, 21(3), 69–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drezner, D. W. (2017). The ideas industry. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earl, J. (2013). Studying online activism: The effects of sampling design on findings. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 18(4), 389–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earl, J., & Kimport, K. (2011). Digitally enabled social change: Activism in the internet age. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • English, R., & Kenny, M. (2001). Public intellectuals and the question of British decline. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 3, 259–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eyal, G., & Buchholz, L. (2010). From the sociology of intellectuals to the sociology of interventions. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 117–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flores, R. D. (2017). Do anti-immigration laws shape public sentiment? A study of Arizona’s SB 1070 using twitter data. The American Journal of Sociology, 123(2), 333–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frickle, S., & Gross, N. (2005). A general theory of scientific/intellectual movements. American Sociological Review, 70, 204–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghamari-Tabrizi, B. (2008). Islam and dissent in postrevolutionary Iran: Abdolkarim Soroush, religious politics and democratic reform. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, L., & Mohseni, P. (2011). Beyond authoritarianism: The conceptualization of hybrid regimes. Studies in Comparative International Development, 46, 270–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, N. (2003). Richard Rorty’s pragmatism: A case study in the sociology of ideas. Theory and Society, 32(1), 93–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, A. (2016). Automated coding of protest event data: development and applications. Ph.D. dissertation in sociology. University of Wisconsin-Madison, ProQuest number: 10190827.

  • Harris, K. (2012). The brokered exuberance of the middle class: An ethnographic analysis of Iran’s 2009 green movement. Mobilization: An International Journal, 17, 435–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K. (2015). The breakaway boss: Semiperipheral innovations and the rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad. Journal of World System Research, 21(2), 417–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K. (2016). All the Sepah’s men: Iran’s revolutionary guards in theory and practice. In E. Grawert & Z. Abul-Magd (Eds.), Businessmen in arms: How the military and other armed groups profit in the MENA region (pp. 97–117). Lanham: Rowmand & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hashemi, N., & Postel, D. (2010). The people reloaded: The green movement and the struggle for Iran's future. New York: Melville House Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, P. N. (2010). The digital origins of dictatorship and democracy: Information technology and political Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, P. N. (2013). Democracy’s fourth wave? Digital media and the Arab spring. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jacoby, R. (1987). The last intellectuals: American culture in the age of academe. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadivar, M. A. (2013). Alliances and perception profiles in the Iranian reform movement, 1997 to 2000. American Sociological Review, 78(6), 1063–1086.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazemi, A. (2004). Jameshenasi-e roshanfekri-e dini dar Iran. Tehran: Tarhe No.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempny, M. (1996). Between politics and culture: Is a convergence between the east-European intelligentsia and Western intellectuals possible? Polish Sociological Review, 116, 297–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, L. P., & Szelenyi, I. (2004). Theories of the new class: Intellectuals and powers. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurzman, C., & Leahey, E. (2004). Intellectuals and democratization: 1905-1912 and 1989-1996. The American Journal of Sociology, 109, 937–986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurzman, C., & Owens, L. (2002). The sociology of intellectuals. Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 63–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mannheim, K. (1968). Ideology and utopia: An introduction to the sociology of knowledge. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Medvetz, T. (2012). Think tanks in America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Misztal, B. A. (2012). Public intellectuals and think tanks: A free market in ideas? International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 25(4), 127–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohebian, A. (2000). Rast, mohafezekri va ghodrat. In M. Ghoochani (Ed.), Dolat-i diniva din-i dolati. Tehran: Saraee Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, J. P. (1969). Ideas, intellectuals, and structures of dissent. In P. Rieff (Ed.), On intellectuals: Theoretical studies, case studies (pp. 53–122). Garden City: Doubleday & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, R. A. (2003). Public intellectuals: A study of decline. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadri, A. (1992). Max Weber’s sociology of intellectuals. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadri, M., & Sadri, A. (2000). Introduction. In S. Mahmoud & S. Ahmad (Eds.), Reason, freedom and democracy in Islam: essential writings of Abdolkarim Soroush (pp. ix–xix). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schradie, J. (2018). The digital activism gap: How class and costs shape online collective action. Social Problems, 65, 51–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schradie, J. (2019). The revolution that wasn’t: How digital activism favors conservatives. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz-Shea, P., & Yanow, D. (2012). Interpretive research design: Concepts and processes. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shils, E. (1972). The intellectuals and the powers: Some perspectives for comparative analysis. In S. Edward (Ed.), The intellectuals and the powers and other essays (pp. 3–22). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tănăsoiu, C. (2008). Intellectuals and post-communist politics in Romania: An analysis of public discourse, 1990–2000. East European Politics and Societies, 22(1), 80–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekci, Z. (2013). ‘Not this one:’ Social movements, the attention economy, and microcelebrity networked activism. The American Behavioral Scientist, 57(7), 848–870.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekci, Z., & Wilson, C. (2012). Social media and decision to participate in political protest: Observation from Tahrir Square. The Journal of Communication, 62, 363–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vissers, S., & Stolle, D. (2014). Spill-over effects between Facebook and on/offline political participation? Evidence from a two-wave panel study. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 11, 259–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 3059 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright St., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Amirhossein Teimouri

Authors
  1. Amirhossein Teimouri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amirhossein Teimouri.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Human and Animal Participants

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Teimouri, A. Passing the Torch: Iran’s 2013 Surprise, the Digital Generational Gap, and the Depoliticization of Public Intellectuals. Int J Polit Cult Soc 34, 253–269 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-020-09367-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-020-09367-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation