The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 opened the way for enormous change in Persia, heralding the modern era and creating a model for later political and cultural movements in the region. Broad in its scope, this multidisciplinary volume brings together essays from leading scholars in Iranian Studies to explore the significance of this revolution, its origins, and the people who made it happen. As the authors show, this period was one of unprecedented debate within Iran’s burgeoning press. Many different groups fought to shape the course of the Revolution, which opened up seemingly boundless possibilities for the country’s future and affected nearly every segment of its society. Exploring themes such as the role of women, the use of photography, and the uniqueness of the Revolution as an Iranian experience, the authors tell a story of immense transition, as the old order of the Shah subsided and was replaced by new institutions, new forms of expression, and a new social and political order.

During the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906 to 1911 a variety of forces played key roles in overthrowing a repressive regime. Afary sheds new light on the role of ordinary citizens and peasantry, the status of Iranian women, and the multifaceted structure of Iranian society.

Born out of a fundamental tension between the old-fashioned and inadequate Qajar monarchy of Mozaffar al-Din Sah and Mohammad Ali Shah, and new reformist democratic ideals, the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906 represents a pivotal moment in the formation of modern Iran. The collapse of the state through financial indigence and foreign pressure - which in the end also consumed the new regime - created a vacuum, which became the subject of many different visions. These included the anti-constitutionalist arguments of Fazlollah Nuri; the moderate Shi'i vision of Tabatabai'I; the more gradualist secular approach of bureaucrats such as Sani-e Dowleh and Nasser Al-Molk; the various radical visions of Taqizadeh and Sattar Khan, as well as the Bakhtiaris. What were the reformists' various aims and how much did they accomplish in the years before Reza Shah seized power? How do events in Iran compare with similar uprisings in other parts of the world? And what role does the Constitutional Revolution continue to play in defining Iranian self-identity? This important and authoritative new book explores all the many different facets of the Revolution, drawing on newly available sources as well as cutting edge research from around the globe to present a definitive account.

The 1906 revolution established the Iranian state-a constitution, legal and political systems, and a Western--style economy--separate from the religious institutions of Shi'ia. Martin (history, London U.) examines the role played by the ulama, the traditional body of the clerical elite, in this change, and surveys the relations between the ulama and the state until the 1979 revolution restored religious primacy. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Cultures of Uneven and Combined Development seeks to explore and develop Leon Trotsky’s concept of uneven and combined development. In particular, it aims to adapt the political and historical analysis which originated in Trotsky’s Russia for use within the contemporary field of world literature. As such, it draws together the work of scholars from both the field of international relations and the field of literature and the arts. This collection will therefore be of particular interest to anyone who is interested in new ways of understanding world literary texts, or interested in new ways of applying Trotsky’s revolutionary politics to the contemporary world order. Contributors: Alexander Anievas, Gail Day, James Christie, Kamran Matin, Kerem Nisancioglu, Luke Cooper, Michael Niblett, Neil Davidson, Nesrin Degirmencioglu, Robert Spencer, Steve Edwards.

In 1905, the year preceding the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, Iranian women and girls were sold by needy peasants to pay their taxes, or taken as booty in a raid by Turkoman tribesmen against a village settlement in Northeast Iran. The telling and retelling of the event became a focus for outage and grievance, contributing to both popular mobilizations against autocracy and a constitutional regime. Indeed, the narration of this event took all of Iran by storm. Shortly after the opening of a new parliament in 1906, relatives of some of the captive women demanded that the parliament punish those responsible. The newly reconstituted Ministry of Justice investigated the matter and actually tried several people who were alleged to be responsible. In The Story of the Daughters of Quchan, Afsaneh Najambodi investigates what made this incident more powerful. How did a familiar incident of rural destitution and the story of yet another Turkoman raid became a uniquely outrageous story? Although it captured the Iranian national imagination, this event has been all but forgotten. What does this "amnesia" tell us about the political culture or modern Iran, as well as that country's national memory, and about modernist historiography, as well as that country's national memory, and about modernist historiography in general?

Most scholarship on the nineteenth and early twentieth century Constitutional Revolution in Iran has focused on the role of two groups, intellectuals and the clergy. The role of women has largely been ignored, despite their widespread participation in the Revolution, and existing research on women has mainly focused on their achievements in the realm of women’s rights, which means that other aspects of women’s activism remain un-investigated. The aim of this book is twofold: first, it presents one of the very first studies of women’s resistance strategies and their resistance to consumerism in Iran; second, and in relation to the first objective, it attempts to demonstrate the biased nature of knowledge production in the studies of women in past societies, particularly the role of women in economics. This book therefore explores the public role of women and their efforts to revive Iran’s economy during and after the Constitutional Revolution.