Abstract
The third chapter documents the emergence of a reform movement in Iran in the late 1990s. The first section raises a number of more general questions pertaining to such a movement in the context of an authoritarian political regime. The first question relates to the issue of whether we can indeed speak of a social movement in the context of Iranian society in the post-revolutionary era. The second section assumes the presence of a reform movement in Iran in the second half of the 1990s and then proceeds to “prove” its existence by referring to the noticeable increase in non-governmental organizations, the noticeable increase in the independent press, the diversity of narratives reflecting different ideologies, policies and lifestyles, powerful counter-movements, dramatic changes of individual appearance in public, dramatic decreases in youth appearances in religious places in the hands of people who represent ideologized religion, and electoral successes by reformist candidates.
The second section of this chapter reviews different explanations for the nature of this movement. The main issues, theory of state, distinguished group, theory of citizenship and expected outcome will be examined in each possible explanation. This section is an attempt to set out different social movement theories as explanations for the Iranian scene. Leadership, success and political implications such as destabilization are discussed in the following sections. The conclusion is an attempt to relate my empirical findings to a broader conceptual and interpretive agenda.
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Notes
- 1.
There are some similarities in respect of demands between this movement and previous movements in Iran, but the emphasis in this movement is on civil and constitutional rights.
- 2.
Āftab-e Emrooz, August 30, 2001.
- 3.
The aim of these murders, as the killers said, was cleansing a religious society from sinners.
- 4.
On the basis of authoritarian Islamic ideology, everything that makes people happy is forbidden. There is a long list of prohibited materials and actions: dance, music, parades, parties, make-up, colorful clothes, comic movies, satires, etc. In formal calendar of Iran, there are about 20 days of mourning, but no national day of parades and happiness.
- 5.
The long list of Ansār’s attack against any activities of dissidents and critics is the main reason for this fear and repression.
- 6.
Before the Revolution of 1979 , this movement was the main line of thought and action among religious youth. After the victory of the Revolution, former revolutionaries were divided first into the Islamic left and the Islamic right in the 1980s and then into two main branches: reformers (mostly with social democratic or liberal democratic approaches) and authoritarians (with anti-democracy and anti-liberalism approaches) in the 1990s.
- 7.
They have their own prisons and special ways of punishment, which are totally different from what the judiciary officially has or does.
- 8.
Norooz, May 29, 2001.
- 9.
Hayāt-e No, August 9, 2001.
- 10.
In spite of Calhoun’s idea about new social movements (Calhoun 1993: 386), these phenomena are not solely makers of post-industrial or post-modern societies.
- 11.
The most prominent figure who represents this idea is Mesbāh Yazdi. He teaches theology in Qom seminary.
- 12.
The Islamic left was a constellation of groups that believed in social democracy and Islamic ideology, and held power between 1981 and 1989.
- 13.
This is a heterogeneous group of writers and scholars that published Kiān magazine in the 1990s. They wrote most of the essays in this magazine. Kiān was closed and banned in 2001 by the judiciary, which was controlled by the leader of the Islamic Republic. They believe in religious pluralism, freedom of speech, and democracy.
- 14.
Islamic nationalist groups that believe in civil rights, market economy and nationalism were in power from 1978 to 1979.
- 15.
Socialist democrats, mostly scholars, writers, journalists and translators; these groups, after the repression of 1981, could not act under the name of a group.
- 16.
Liberal secularist writers, journalists, artists, researchers and translators, who believe in freedom of speech, freedom to choose one’s lifestyle and human rights.
- 17.
This kind of politics was the main way of doing politics in Iran for the four decades from the 1950s to 1980s (Bayat 1997).
- 18.
Reformers won all the elections (presidential, parliamentary, and municipal councils), except the election of Experts Assembly, who elect the next religious leader from experts in shari’ah in the mentioned period. Actually, only clerics were allowed to run for this assembly. In some provinces, the number of candidates and representatives were the same. They also won any election inside the professional groups (national medical doctors association, national urban and civil engineers association, bar association, trade association, cinematic associations, press association, etc.).
- 19.
- 20.
An authoritarian approach to citizenship is established on exclusive political society. All political lectures of Mohammad Taqi Mesbāh Yazdi and Abdullāh Javādi Āmoli as two well-known authoritarian clerics explicitly explain this approach on the basis of Islamic doctrine. All authoritarian political parties—Jam’iyyat-e Mo’talefeh (Coalition Party), Jāme’eh-ye Modarresin-e Hozeh-ye `Elmieh-ye Qom (Qom Seminary Teachers Association), and Jāme’eh-ye Rowhaniyyat-e Mobārez-e Tehran (Combating Clergy of Tehran Association)—are behind this idea of citizenship.
- 21.
Habibullāh Asgar ‘Owlādi, secretary general of Mo’talefeh (Coalition Party), Norooz, December 12, 2001.
- 22.
Iran’s society had three periods of uprising before the reform movement. The first one was a constitutional movement during what is called the Constitutional Revolution of 1906–1907. The second was an independence movement against Britain and happened during the Nationalization of Oil Industry Movement, 1950–1953. The third was a political movement against the kingdom, 1977–1979, and led to the Revolution of 1979.
- 23.
Norooz, September 15, 2001.
- 24.
Norooz, October 20, 2001.
- 25.
Norooz, January 3, 2002.
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Mohammadi, M. (2019). Nature of the Iranian Reform Movement: Existence and Causes. In: The Iranian Reform Movement. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90969-1_3
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