SUİ479

School of Economics and Administrative Sciences \ Political Science and International Relations

3

6

Elective

English

-

SUİ students take this course as Departmental Elective, other programs can take it as Faculty or University Elective Course.

This course aims to analyze the long course of change and transformation in modern Iran starting from the 19th century until today and shed light on the politics, society, and international affairs of the country. It will cover a wide range of issues including state and nation-building in the modern era under the Qajars, the Pahlavis, and the Islamic Republic; Iran's two major revolutions in the 20th century- the 1906-1911 Constitutional Revolution and the 1979 Iranian Revolution-; social movements, identity, and search for democratization in the country through a multi-level analysis of international factors and domestic actors (elites, gender, and youth).

Gene R. Garthwaite, The Persians, (Blackwell Publishing, 2005).
Ervand Abrahamian, A History of Modern Iran, (Cambridge University Press, 2008).
Nikki R. Keddie, Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution, (Yale University Press, 2003).
Gülriz Şen, Devrimden Günümüze İran’ın ABD Politikası: Tarihsel Sosyolojik Bir Analiz, (Ankara: ODTÜ Yayıncılık, 2018), 2. Edition.
Fred Halliday, “İran Devrimi: Eşitsiz Gelişme ve Dinci Popülizm”, in Serpil Üşür (ed), İran Devrimi: Din, Anti-emperyalizm ve Sol, (Belge Yayınları, 1992), 9-53.
Misagh Parsa, “State, Class, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution”, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, 29:1, 2009, 3-17.
Mehdi Moslem, Factional Politics in post-Khomeini Iran, (Syracuse University Press, 2002), 1-46.
Valentine Moghaddam, “Islamic Populism, Class and Gender in Post-Revolutionary Iran”, in John Foran (ed.), A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994), 189-222.
Anoushiravan Ehteshami, After Khomeini: The Iranian Second Republic, (London: Routledge, 1995).
Behzad Yaghmaian, Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance, and New Movements for Rights, (State University of New York, 2002).
Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Mahjoob Zweiri, Iran and the Rise of its Neo-Conservatives: The Politics of Tehran’s Silent Revolution, (London: I.B.Tauris, 2007).
Gülriz Şen, “İran ve Arap Baharı: Bağlam, Söylem ve Siyaset”, Ortadoğu Etütleri, 3(2), 2012, 95-118.
Hassan Ahmadian and Payam Hosseini, “Iran’s Syria strategy: the evolution of deterrence”, International Affairs 95:2, 2019, 1-24.
Farzan Sabet and Roozbeh Safshekan, “The revolutionary guard in Iranian domestic and foreign power politics” (Chapter 8), in Shahram Akbarzadeh (ed.), Routledge Handbook of International Relations in the Middle East, (Routledge: 2019), 96-109.
Gülriz Şen, “Nükleer Anlaşma bağlamında İran-ABD ilişkilerinde fırsat ve krizler: 2013-2018 dönemine yeniden bakış”, Türkiye İran Araştırmaları Dergisi, 1:2, 2022, 56-75.
Gülriz Şen, “Ruhani Döneminde Devlet-Toplum İlişkileri: Umut, Düş Kırıklığı, Yeniden Umut”, Ortadoğu Analiz, (September-October 2017), 9:82, 14-16.
Asef Bayat, “The Fire That Fueled the Iran Protests”, The Atlantic, 27 January 2018.
Gülriz Şen, “2019 İran İsyanları: Sokağın Talepleri ve Siyasetin Açmazları Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme”, Daktilo1984, 19 Kasım 2019.
Bernard Hourcade, “Ebrahim Raisi's Domestic Policy: Conservative, Pragmatic or Paralyzed?”, The Muslim World, Special Issue: The Domestic Politics of Iran & The International Relations of Iran, 113:1-2, (Winter-Spring 2023), 19-31.
International Crisis Group, “Iran: The Riddle of Raisi”, Middle East Report N°224, 5 August 2021.
Touraj Atabaki, “From multilingual empire to contested modern state”, in Homa Katouzian and Hossein Shahidi (eds), Iran in the 21st century: Politics, Economics and Conflict, (London: Routledge 2008), 41-62.
Shahram Akbarzadeh et al, “The Kurds in Iran: balancing national and ethnic identity in a securitised environment”, Third World Quarterly, 40:6, 2019, 1145-1162.
Haleh Esfandiari, “The Women’s Movement”, The Iran Primer.
Omid Memorian and Tara Nesvaderani, “Youth”, The Iran Primer.
Ervand Abrahamian, “Why the Islamic Republic Has Survived.”, Middle East Report 250, 2009.
Mohammad Ali Kadivar et al, “Labor Organizing on the Rise Among Iranian Oil Workers”, MERIP, 25 August 2021.
Gülriz Şen, “Mahsa Emini’nin Ardından İran’da Kadın, Hayat ve Özgürlük”, DPK Notları 2022/17, Ekim 2022.
Gülriz Şen, “İran: Dünden Sonra, Yarından Önce”, Fikir Turu, 24 November 2022.
Vali Nasr, “Iran’s Hard-Liners Are Winning How Months of Protest Forged an Even More Intransigent Regime”, Foreign Affairs, February 6, 2023.
Sınıf Tartışması için Film: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)
Sınıf Tartışması için Film: Leyla'nın Kardeşleri (Said Rustayi)

Besides laying out the historical foundations of state, society and foreign policy in Iran, the course also aims to offer an analysis of contemporary developments comprising the nuclear crisis, Iran’s regional role, and policies during the Arab uprisings. As such the course seeks to acquaint students with the essential knowledge of modern Iran and locate its politics, society, and foreign policy in the broader context of changes and continuities in world and regional politics.

1. Students learn about the critical historical junctures and personalities of Iranian history and politics in the modern era and assess the linkages between domestic political and social change and changes in foreign policy of the country. Students are expected to attain the essential knowledge of modern Iran and locate its politics, society, and foreign policy in the broader context of changes and continuities in world and regional politics.
2. Students can locate the politics, society, and foreign policy of Iran in the broader context of changes and continuities in world and regional politics with explorations of Cold War, Post-Cold War, Post-September 11 and Post-Arab Uprisings period. Hence, they attain an Area Studies perspective in conjunction with major Political Science and International Relations concepts.
3. Students develop a multidimensional perspective of Iranian politics by looking into domestic and regional/international dynamics as well as an interdisciplinary perspective with insights from History and Sociology.
4. Students improve their academic English skills through class discussions of the course readings, select Iranian movies and written in-class exams for their midterms and Finals.

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Modern Iran: History and Geography & State and Society during the Qajars
Week 3: Iran under the Pahlavis: The reigns of Reza Shah (1925-1941) & Muhammed Reza Shah (1941-1979)
Week 4: The 1979 Iranian Revolution: Causes and Implications
Week 5: Political, Social Change and Foreign Policy in Post-Revolutionary Iran: 1980s
Week 6: Politics of Reconstruction and Reform in Iran: 1990s until early 2000s
Week 7: State, Society and Politics in the Era of Crisis and Confrontation: 2000s
Week 8: Foreign Policy during Hassan Rouhani’s Presidency (2013-2021)
Week 9: State and Society during Hassan Rouhani’s Presidency (2013-2021)
Week 10: Politics, Society and Foreign Policy During Ebrahim Raisi's Presidency (2021-2024)
Week 11: Women, Minorities and Social Movements in Iran
Week 12: Iran’s Futures: Prospects of State, Society, and Revolution

• Attention 5 %
• Participation 10 %
• Midterm 35 %
• Final 50 %