The Iranian Revolution and the Discourse of the Hardline Conservatives: a Critical Analysis.
Albloshi, Hamad.
2012
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Abstract: This dissertation analyzes the discourse of the "hardline," or extreme, "conservatives" within the political elite of Iran. On the basis of preliminary research, it is clear the public position of this group on major internal and external issues cannot fall within the terms used to describe the political orientation of the presidencies of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami: ... read more"pragmatic" and "reformer," Respectively. These two presidents and their political allies ruled Iran from the time of the death of Iran's charismatic leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 to the election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005. During this period, state policy in Iran seemed to follow the pattern of development common to many European revolutions, where ruling elites attempted to consolidate or normalize revolutionary accomplishments following intense internal and external acts of violence. A major portion of Iran's political elite, under the leadership of the hardline conservatives, are following a track inconsistent with the European experience as explained in the historical model developed by some political scientists and historians such as Crane Brinton, Lyford P. Edwards, and George Pettee, who believed that mass revolutions go through different phases until they are normalized and die. Therefore, an explanation for Iran's different post-revolutionary trajectory is needed. The aim of this dissertation is to place the discourse of the hardline conservatives in Iran within the context of the revolutionary development in the country after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and connect it to the cultural and religious contexts of the Iranian society. After following the development of the Iranian revolution since 1989 and analyzing the discourse of the hardline conservatives, this dissertation reached the conclusion that the arguments made by those abovementioned scholars cannot explain the path that the Iranian revolution is taking because they did not recognize the role that discourse can play in shaping the general pattern of developments of major revolutions.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2012.
Submitted to the Dept. of Diplomacy, History, and Politics.
Advisor: Andrew Hess.
Committee: Vali Nasr, and Ali Gheissari.
Keywords: International relations, and Political Science.read less - ID:
- 9s161j565
- Component ID:
- tufts:21855
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- TARC Citation Guide EndNote