The Languages of Power and Politics in Modern Iran

Abstract

For many observers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the political culture ushered in by the revolution of 1979 lies deeply rooted in the history of Iran in the twentieth century.¹ The dynamics of politics in the last two decades of the Qajar dynasty, the negotiation of power in the kingdom between the Qajar rulers and their subjects since the Mashruteh (Constitutional) revolution of 1906, helped evolve new languages of power and politics that, they believe, continue to be relevant in modern Iran, redefining the relationship between the state and the society, the state and the individual, and the society and the individual. The new political language assigned to the people a centrality in political discourse that was unthinkable in the kingdom of Persia until that time. However, the manner in which such centrality would become operational in political life was not fully worked out by the Mashruteh revolution, leaving Iran open to a prolonged conflict over the dilemma that has characterized the country’s history since then: does the state belong to the people? Or, do the people belong to the state?