Memory, Power, and Protest In Post-Revolutionary Iran

Memory, Power, and Protest In Post-Revolutionary Iran

The Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 marked a profound transition from 2500 years of monarchy and secular governance to a theocratic state led by Ayatollah Khomeini and other revolutionary leaders. The concept of the ‘Velayat-e-Faqih’ (trans. ‘Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist’) and the emphasis on revolutionary justice were central to the revolution’s ideology. This transition, which redefined Iran’s sociopolitical and religious landscape, was never fully realized, as the revolutionaries continued to engage in a range of political and violent practices like those of the previous regime. Historians have extensively explored the role of religion and violence in shaping the political program and actions of the revolutionaries. Yet, the role of collective memories—through selective mechanisms of recollection, manipulation, and mobilization— to fostering the 1979 revolution and maintaining it remains under-examined. This research project analyses how the revolutionary leaders and their successors strategically used memories of struggles against foreign intervention, the martyrdom and contributions of religious figures, and the rhetoric of social (in)justice to mobilize the people, dismantle the monarchy and establish legitimacy through nuclear projects. Over time, selective aspects of the revolution itself became the source of collective memorialization as part of attempts to maintain power and control. However, at times the use of collective memories and memorialization of the gains of the revolution also became insufficient for the religiopolitical elites to ground legitimacy in that ordinary Iranians used counter memories through household and neighbourhood memorialization practices and specific ways of naming children that became irritants for the regime. People also used social media technologies and protest actions on the streets, cemeteries, and other mundane places as sites of resistance against the encroachments of the central government. Findings reveal that politics of memory is a recurring theme in Iran’s history, utilised by the Kings and contemporaneously by the Clergy alongside diffusion of ideology and coercion while ordinary citizens have countered official narratives. A focus on the politics of memory in Iran provides critical insights into how political and religious actors used and abused laws and violence to exert power and control, domination, and resistance in shaping the nation.

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