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Biography
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ALERT &
DISCLAIMER by Sohrab Behdad and Timur Kuran about Theory of Islamic Economics: Tradition and Transformation.
From Granville
to Samarkand
and Kashghar

Political Economy of Iran (Fall 2007)

As we begin our course, the specter of a U.S. war with Iran hangs over the world. While many questions are raised about Iran’s capability and intention of making a nuclear bomb, and the trajectory of political development in Iran, much remains to be understood about the political economy of the largest country in the Middle East. The focus of this course is the political economy of the 1979 revolution and the post-revolutionary Iranian society. We define political economy in its broadest sense, meaning politico-economic issues as they are played out in the socio-historical context. This means the study of the state, power structure, social movements, public policy making, as they relate to economic aspects of life and society’s class configuration.

To gain an understanding of the dynamics of the revolution and the post-revolutionary developments, we will briefly review the process of socio-economic changes in Iran in the previous decades, from the Constitutional Revolution 1905, to the rise of Reza Shah 1926 and Muhammad Reza Shah 1941, nationalization of Iranian oil in1951, the CIA coup d’etat of 1953, and the 1962 White Revolution, to the oil bonanza of 1970s and the preludes to the 1979 revolution. You may wonder why we have to go back a century to gain an understanding of the events of the recent time, or even the past couple of decades. History, particularly the history of the past century is a crucial factor in understanding the dynamics of the current socio-political development in most of the Middle East, and Iran, in particular. Throughout this course we will see how and why this historical approach has been helpful in gaining an understanding about the complexity of the Iranian revolution and its aftermath.

Our major effort will be in understanding the political economy of the revolution and the post revolutionary period. We will examine the following issues in the context of the analytical model of a “post-revolutionary crisis” in a number of scholarly books and articles.

  • Revolution, economic demands and the post revolutionary programs
  • The new state and taming a revolutionized economy
  • International economic reactions (economic sanctions)
  • The debates of economic direction (private property and nationalization)
  • Islamic economics- in its various versions
  • Gender segregation of the workforce
  • Class nature of the workforce
  • Denationalizations and privatization
  • Oil and energy
  • From populism to economic liberalism, and back to populism?
  • Whiter Iran?

We will conduct our course as a seminar and we will rely mainly on everyone’s thoughtful participation.

Office Hours

  • TWR 2:00-2:50 pm
  • And by appointment. (You're always welcome to drop in.)

Students who need an accommodation based on the impacts of disability should contact me privately as soon as possible. I rely on the communication from Office of Academic Support (104 Doane) to make the necessary accommodation.

Readings

Books

The following books are available at the university bookstore:

  • John Foran, A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran, University of Minnesota Press, 1994
  • Ali Gheisari and Vali Nasr, Democracy in Iran: History and Quest for Liberty, Oxford University Press, 2006
  • Behzad Yaghmaian, Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance and New Movements for Rights, State University of New York Press, 2002
  • Farhad Nomani and Sohrab Behdad, Class and Labor in Iran: Did the Revolution Matter? Syracuse University Press, 2006

The university bookstore could not order wholesale (as bookstores order)

  • Saul Bakhash, The Reign of Ayatollahs: Iran and the Islamic Revolution, Basic Books 1984 or 1990

because it is out of print. However, some internet vendors, such as Amazon.com, or Barnesandnoble.com have used copies at relatively low prices (when I checked they had it for between $5.00 and $10.00, including regular shipping). Order it now so that you will have it when we get to it in our discussions

News

You are expected to be up to date on the news on Iran as posted on any of the following sites (or you may prefer other sites as the source for getting your news):

Or you can go the “source” in Iran, to get the Iranian version of the news (in English):

In addition, occasionally, some US or UK magazines or newspapers have a special report on Iran. Please bring the news of the reports that you find to our class.

On Tuesdays, be prepared to present to class the most important or interesting news from or about Iran.

Other Resources

Assignment from other sources (ERes, JSTOR and other websites) are listed under “Topics and Assigned Readings” below. Please note! The password for ERes (Electronic Reserves) is "revolution".

Attendence

Regular attendance is absolutely required. I expect you in class, in body and soul, everyday, and on time! Class begins at 10:00 am, sharp. There is penalty for missing classes, and for late arrivals. If you come to class unprepared, you are counted absent.

Schedule of Exams and Assignments

  • Review of a book about Iran: Tuesday, September 18, in class - books must be approved by Spetember 11.
  • Paper/Exam I: Thursday, September 20 (take-home). Due on Tuesday, Spetember 25, in class.
  • Research Proposal: Tuesday, October 2, in class.
  • Paper/Exam II: Thursday, October 18 (take-home). Due on Tuesday, October 23, in class.
  • Class Presentation: A 10-min class presentation of your research paper. December 4 and December 6.
  • Research Paper: A fifteen page research paper based on your proposal. Due Friday, December 7 by 4:00 pm in my office.
  • Paper/Exam III: Thursday, December 7 (take-home). Due by 4:00 pm on Thursday, December 13.

Requirements and Grandes

Grades will be given on the following basis:

  • Review of a book about Iran: 100 points
  • Paper/Exam I: 100 points
  • Research Proposal: 25 points
  • Paper/Exam II: 100 points
  • Class Presentation: 25 points
  • Research Paper: 150 points
  • Paper/Exam III: 100 points
  • Class Contributions: 100 points (Based on your thourghtful contributions to the discussions of issues in class, not on attendence.)
  • Total: 700 points

*Bonus points for a creative project: up to 75 points.

All the assignment must be typed.

There is penalty for late assignments (20% a day).

Assignments due in class must be turned in at the beginning of class (10:00 am).

List of Exams and Assignments

Book Review

A critical review of a book (in 1,500 words) on Iran. The book must be printed in 2000 or later. The book must be concerned with any aspect of Iranian social life, and it may be from any perspectives, e.g., politics, culture, economics, literature, science or arts. It should be an authored book. Edited books (those that include a number of individual articles by various authors) are not accepted. I must approve the book for review by September 11. (You should bring a copy of the book for me to see.) You may review one of the books that I recommended this summer. In writing this book review imagine that you are writing for publication in a book review magazine (say New York Review of Books) and you wish to let your readers know what the book is about (very briefly, and do not summarize the book), what is (are) methodological, ideological, or ? vantage point(s) of the book. You should also elaborate on what you consider as the strong or weak points of the book. Your book review should reflect your thoughtfulness in dealing with the topic.

Exams/Papers

Exam/papers are take-home exams. Your responses are expected to reflect the depth of your understanding about the issue and the extent of your knowledge about the literature that we have studied in this course. (This means that I would like to see if you have read and understood the readings for the class and how well you can synthesize what we read and what we have discussed in class. All references must be fully identified. (Your responses should be written in the format and style of a research paper). You will have at least four full days to write your exam/paper. The expected length of your responses is about 10-15 pages, and will be specified for each exam.

Research Proposal

A two page explanation of your research plan. The proposal should include the objective of your paper, your thesis (or theses), your method of analysis, the issues that you will be considering, your sources, and some problems that may be anticipated as well as your strategy for overcoming them. (See Research Paper below).

Research Paper

Your research paper (in about 5000-7000 words, plus references, tables and graphs, if any) should examine a topic of your choice on Iran. Your topic may deal with any aspect of the socio-politico-economic aspect of contemporary Iran. The historical interval that you choose for your analysis depends largely on topic and the special focus that you may have in your study. You are quite free in choosing your scope of analysis. I would like to see how well you define and analyze an issue. Therefore, your paper should be analytical and not descriptive. You are always welcome to come and see me about your paper. As we all know (at least theoretically) the more we plan our work ahead, the more it is probable that we do a good job. So come and see me early.

Class Presentation

Your presentation should be 10 minutes (and no more), to be followed by a brief discussion by our class. Do not read your paper. If you do, you will see how easy it is put a class to sleep. Present the main points of your paper in a way that would be interesting for your audience. An effective presentation is usually followed by many interesting questions.

Creative Project

Here is your chance to be creative! I am not asking here for extra work or another paper. I would like to provide for you an opportunity for creativity outside, and different from, what we have done in class for a better understanding of any aspects of the social life in Iran. You may use any medium, any genre, or any form of expression that you would like. I would be happy to discuss your project with me. If you are undertaking a creative project, you must notify me about your project is by November 8, otherwise you would not qualify for this optional part of the course. Please note: This is not a required part of the course. If you choose to do the project you will get extra point based on the quality of your work. You will not be penalized if you do not do this project.

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Topics and Assigned Readings

Our assigned readings are not dated because I do not wish to confine our class to an artificial calendar that would determine the extent of our discussion on any given topic ex ante. We will proceed with the readings in the same order that they are listed, unless I ask for a change in the order. I will always indicate where we are in the list of assignments and what readings(s) we will discuss next time. Please note, these articles are not parts of a textbook. Authors provide backgrounds for their discussion and analysis based on their own vantage points and the nature of the issue that they discuss. Therefore, you may find some overlap in the discussion of the various readings. Although, in these cases, the facts may be similar, the analyses may be different. It is a challenge for us to see how different authors come to different analysis based on the same set of information, or how they modify the information to reach different conclusions. Also, please note that whatever we will read or discuss in class should remain in our permanent, and retrievable memory for the period of the course. Occasionally I may assign other readings as we proceed in the course, and especially as the political conditions in Iran evolves in the next few months. We will try to stay current!

  • A - Foreign Domination and the Challenge of Democratization Modernization
    • A-1 Constitutional Revolution
      Moaddel in Foran 1-20
      Afary in Foran 21-44
    • A-2 Reza Shah: Authoritarian Modernization
      Gheissary & Nasr 24-43
      Amin Banani, The Modernization of Iran 1921-1941, Stanford
      University Press1961 (ERes pp.: 52?111)
    • A-3 From Nationalization to Internationalization
      Gheissary & Nasr 45-55
      Siavoshi in Foran 106-134
      Mark Gasiorowski: "The 1953 Coup d? etat in Iran" in International Journal of Middle East Studies, 19 (1987) JSTOR
    • A-4 ?The White Revolution? and the Collapse of Monarchy Gheissary & Nasr 45-55
      Ervand Abrahamian, Iran Between two Revolutions, Princeton University Press, 1982, (ERes pp.: 419-449).
      Manouchehr Ganji and Abbas Milani in Iran: Past, Present and Future, Jane Jacqz (ed.), Aspen institute, 1976 (ERes pp.: 33-55)
      Parsa in Foran 135-159
      Pesaran, M.H., "The System of Dependent Capitalism in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Iran", International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol.14, no.4, 1982, in JSTOR.

  • B - The Revolution and "the New Order"
    • B-1 On Revolution
      Bakhash, 9-70
      Foran in Foran 160-188
    • B-2 The ideological basis of the 1979 Revolution
      Bizhan Jazani, Capitalism and Revolution in Iran, Zed Press 1980 (ERes pp.: i-iii, 46-122.
      Behdad, "Islamic Utopia in Pre-Revolutionary Iran," Middle Eastern Studies, vol 33, no. 1, {ERes).
      Ali Shariati, "The Philosophy of History: Cain and Abel," in Sociology of Islam, Mizan Press 1979 (ERes pp.: 97-120).
      Murtaza Mutahhari, Soial and Historical Change An Islamic Perspective, Mizan Press, 1986 (ERes pp.: 96-125).
    • B-3 The Quest for an Islamic utopia
      Behdad, "A Disputed Utopia: Islamic Economics in Revolutionary Iran," Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol 30, no. 4 (JStor)
      Bakhash 71-91
      Behdad, "The Political Economy of Islamic Planning," in Post Revolutionary Iran (eds.) Hooshang Amirahmadi and Manoucher Parvin, Westview Press, 1988 ERes pp.: 107-125)
      Gheissary & Nasr 77-104

  • C - The Post revolutionary economic crisis

    (Read the entire book of Yaghmaian as a background to the discussion in this and the following sections)

    • C- 1 From Economic populism to economic liberalism
      Bakhash 125-216
      Nomani & Behdad Chapters 1, 3 and 4
      Gheissary & Nasr 105-126
    • C-2 What Happened to social classes?
      Nomani and Behdad Chapters 5 and 6
    • C-3 Women in the post-Islamist Iran
      Janet Afary, "War against Feminism in the name of Almighty" in Dossier 21 (pp. 5-31) at http://www.wluml.org/english/pubs/pdf/dossier21/D21.pdf.
      Azadeh Kian "Women and Politics in Post-Islamist Iran" in Dossier 21 (pp. 32-55) at http://www.wluml.org/english/pubs/pdf/dossier21/D21.pdf.
      Nomani and Behdad Chapter 6
    • C-4 Poverty and inequality
      Sohrab Behdad, "Winners and Losers of the Iranian Revolution: A Study in Income Distribution" in International Journal of Middle East Studies, 21 (1989) JSTOR
      Nomani and Behdad, Chapter 8
      Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, "Revolution and Redistribution in Iran: Poverty and Inequality 25 Years Later," Working Paper, at http://www.filebox.vt.edu/users/salehi/Iran_poverty_trend.pdf

  • D - Whither Iran
    • The Economist, "The Riddle of Iran/The Revolution Strikes Back," July 2007, ERes.
      Middle East Report, "Iran Looking Ahead," Winter 2006, ERes.
      Behdad & Nomani, Chapter 9

Some Useful Websites