Iran and the challenge of diversity : islamic fundamentalism, aryanist racism, and democratic ... struggles

## Preface This study is a multidisciplinary work that draws on fields of history, sociology, literature, politics, anthropology, and cultural studies to explore the origination, development, and continuation of racist ideas in Iran. It analyzes the relationships among European racist ideas, the creation of the Indo-European language family, and the emergence of modern racism in Iran, interrogating the construction of notions such as Aria, Aryan race, and Aryanism in an Iranian context. By situating Iran within the Orientalist discourse and by exploring its cultural, linguistic, and ethnic developments in light of Orientalist/Aryanist reconstruction of Iran's history, the study examines various levels of nation building, identity construction, and aggressive nationalism in Iran. It shows the way in which nationalism and racism worked to place the Indo-European-speaking Persian ethnic group in a position of advantage vis-à-vis Iran's non-Persian nationalities, ethnic groups, and communities. In so doing, it challenges conventional notions about Iran's history, culture, and language by privileging the multinational, multicultural, and multilingual character of Iranian society. Employing multiple perspectives and theoretical frameworks, the study analyzes issues of ethnic inequality, exclusion, and oppression in Iran from antiracist and anticolonial standpoints. It establishes the existence of racism in Iran as a salient determining factor in creating social inequality, oppression, and unequal power relations. Surveying select works of history, literature, religion, politics, and various official and nonofficial publications, the research examines how the dominant group uses sites such as literature, history, language, and the education system as strategic spaces from which to justify its privileged position in society. Through a critical exploration of the dominant discourse, the study suggests the possibility that the minoritized can also use their own discursive sites to resist acts of racism, colonialism, and oppression. To this end, it offers an analysis of a "counterhegemonic" discourse created by the marginalized to resist and combat racism. The study points to obvious limitations of these sites for the colonized and offers ways to improve their effectiveness. By way of a conclusion, the study highlights future directions for research and possibilities for democratic transformations in an Iranian as well as a Middle Eastern context. In completing this study, in addition to benefiting from other experiences in the form of existing narratives on the topic, I also draw on my own personal experience and knowledge. As a member of the minoritized Azerbaijani ethnic group in Iran, from early childhood I learned the pain and agony of not being able to communicate, read, and write in my own mother tongue. Shortly after the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925, all non-Persian ethnic groups and nationalities in Iran were denied the right to education in our own languages. Notwithstanding the fact that we Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Baluchs, Turkmens, and others constituted the numerical majority in the country, the government sought to supplant our languages, cultures, and histories with those of the Persian minority. As non-Persian citizens of Iran, we were subjected to open and shameful acts of linguicide, cultural annihilation, and forced assimilation. I completed my primary and secondary education in a schooling system where I was not allowed to read, write, and even speak my own mother tongue. The education system in Iran promoted and enforced a superficial sense of nationalism based on Persian language and identity. The richly multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual character of Iranian society was explicitly denied. The school environment, textbooks, curricula, extracurricular activities, teachers, and school administrative personnel all subscribed to and served the view that saw Iran as one nation with one language and one identity. In essence, monoculturalism and monolingualism became the official doctrine of nation-building processes in the country. As a result, the Iranian education system itself came to function as a huge engine for linguicide, deculturation, and assimilation. Like millions of non-Farsi-speaking Iranians, I grew up longing for an education system where difference and diversity were valued, where students were encouraged and felt proud to talk in their own language, to read their history along with other histories, to see that their people's contributions were registered in textbooks alongside other contributions, to feel proud of who they were and where they came from. However, achievement of these aims and goals in my birthplace remained an ideal for me and millions of other students, teachers, and educators. I left Iran in my early twenties with a vision of aspiring to live in a society where difference and diversity were respected. Later on when I finally found my way into Canadian learning centers, I was really impressed to see the level of attention, discussion, and analysis that went into conceptualization, theorization, and realization of difference and diversity in these institutions of learning and education. It was in Canada where I learned to read and write in my own mother tongue. For a period of three years I closely worked with a bilingual magazine published by the Azeri-Canadian Community Center in Toronto. Shortly after, I became the editor of another Azerbijani-Persian journal titled Qurtulush. Working with these journals opened up new ways of learning about issues of power, cultural hegemony, and linguistic repression. The mere fact that these journals were partly written in the Azeri language was reason enough for members of the dominant language to brand me and my colleagues as traitors, secessionists, and separatists. Without even reading the journal and knowing its content, former friends and acquaintances began to isolate me, considering me a dangerous, radical element disloyal to Iran's territorial integrity. It was due to this painful experience that I came to realize x PREFACE PREFACE xi The study is also important in its treatment of difference and diversity as a significant sociopolitical issue that will determine the future course of social, cultural, and political development in Iran. A look at the neighboring countries of Afghanistan and Iraq illustrates the degree to which difference and diversity are detrimental in a Middle Eastern context. It is hoped that this book will clear the way for future researchers to continue the work on issues of difference and diversity and their democratic realization not only in Iran but also in the wider Middle East. This book interrogates the racist construction of Arya/Aria and Aryanism in an Iranian context, arguing that a racialized interpretation of these concepts has given the Indo-European speaking Persian ethnic group an advantage over Iran?s non-Persian nationalities and communities. Based on multidisciplinary research drawing on history, sociology, literature, politics, anthropology and cultural studies, Alireza Asgharzadeh critiques the privileged place of Farsi and the Persian ethnic group in contemporary Iran. The book highlights difference and diversity as major socio-political issues that will determine the future course of social, cultural, and political developments in Iran. Pointing to the increasing inadequacy of Islamic fundamentalism in functioning as a grand narrative, Asgharzadeh explores the racist approach of the current Islamic government to issues of difference and diversity in the country, and shows how these issues are challenging the very existence of the Islamic regime in Iran Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction: Establishing the Boundaries....Pages 1-23 The Journey between Theory and Practice: Text, Context, and Language....Pages 25-46 Planting the Seeds of Racism: Diversity and the Problematic of Orientalist Historiography....Pages 47-84 The Flourishing of Racist Ideology: From Pahlavi Monarchism to the Islamic Republic....Pages 85-117 Reinforcing Racism: The Dominant Discourse and Praxis....Pages 119-155 Resisting Racism: The Counterhegemonic Discourse and Praxis....Pages 157-196 Conclusions: Politics of Assimilation and the Challenge of Diversity....Pages 197-218 Back Matter....Pages 219-249