Lecture: Iran’s Two and Half Revolutions: Tragedies but No Farce?

University of Amsterdam, PC Hoofthuis, Spuistraat 134, Room 104, Amsterdam

Sadighi 9th Annual Lecture (Sadighi Research Fund)

The Dr Sadiqi Research Fund was established with generous support from the Centre for Iranian Documentation and Research (CIDR) at the International Institute of Social history (IISH). This Fund provides funding to scholars undertaking projects on the social history of Iran.

By Abbas Amanat, Yale University

In the course of the 20th century Iran witnessed two major revolutions: the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 to 1911 and the Islamic Revolution of 1979-1989. In the post WWII era it also experienced a proto-revolutionary upheaval that ended in 1953. Comparing the three episodes offers an insight into persistent themes in Iran’s political culture, evolving society and aspirations

Abbas Amanat (externe link)is William Graham Sumner Professor of History at Yale and Director of the Yale Program in Iranian Studies. His most recent book: Iran: A Modern History has been published by the Yale University Press in 2017. Among his earlier publications are Resurrection and Renewal: the Making of the Babi Movement in Iran; Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy and Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi’ism. He coauthored, edited and coedited numerous titles including Az Tehran ta ‘Akka: Babiyan va Baha’iayan dar Asnad-e Dowran-e Qajar and a special issue of the Journal of Iranian Studies (2016) on “Iran’s Environmental Changes and Challenges.” His forthcoming Persianate World: A Conceptual Inquiry will be published by Brill in 2018.  He is the Bahari Fellow at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University in Spring 2018. Abbas Amanat is a Consulting Editor of Encyclopedia Iranica and served as the editor of the journal of Iranian Studies and formerly chaired the Council on Middle East Studies.