Iran Revisited ― Exploring the Historical Roots of Culture, Economics, and Society

This book examines modern Iran through an interdisciplinary cultural analysis in order to study the nature of the national economic system, the institutional environment, and the political and power structure of the country. The goal is to underline strengths and weaknesses of Iranian society as a whole, using an approach based on the critical theory of society. This enables us to confront—and live up to—what Iran’s history and culture have taught us. The book is divided into eight chapters beginning with the introductory chapter that offers an overview of the core arguments developed. The second chapter covers Iranian national character attributes, determining what constitutes an Iranian Mind-set and how they have been affected by both historical events in Iran. This chapter also highlights the lack of cohesiveness in Iranian society, namely, the absence of togetherness in relation to nation-state building and emphasizes the essential role of Islam in revealing the national consciousness of Iranians. The third chapter discusses the claim that Iranians have failed to learn from past events and hardships and continue to endure same flaws, and also concludes that Iran has repeatedly borrowed notions and ideas from the West that are unrelated to local conditions. These ideas may have worked in other areas of the world, but do not necessarily apply to the culture and environment of Iran. Finally, the chapter discusses the importance of education and literacy among the general Iranian population. Chapter four provides an analysis of the Iranian Cultural Identity from an historical perspective. In the fifth chapter, the author offers a historical analysis of the Persian resistance to the Arab Invasion, and conversely, the impact of Persian language and culture on Islamic civilization. The chapter also emphasizes the importance of language as a resistance tool, particularly as a resistance to the Arab Invasion. Chapter six commences with a detailed discussion on the Qajar period, followed by the Constitutional Revolution from a historical point of view. The final chapter contains an overview of contemporary Iranian economy, and it describes the nature of the Iranian economy in terms of already recognized economic system categorizations, a market and planned economic system.