The History of Secular Politics in an Iranian Village, 1900 - 2012

FAIN: FT-59937-12

Mary Elaine Hegland
President and Board of Trustees of Santa Clara College (Santa Clara, CA 95053-0001)

During the 1979 Iranian Revolution, local culture and politics influenced national events. Rather than an elite reformulation of Shi'a Islam into revolutionary meaning, "Aliabad" villagers relied on secular folk political culture and pragmatic methods to evaluate the revolutionary conflict. Their desire for safety and justice, expectations of leaders, and understandings of political process developed through earlier kinship-based political conflict guided their decision-making. Only after they had switched to the dissidents' side did most villagers turn to the Shi'a Muslim revolutionary framework. The book follows processes of change in Aliabad from early 1900s through 2008, examining how education, employment structure, higher living standards, modernization and globalization have led to more individuation, egalitarian relationships, secularization, and political education, preparing the way for villagers' expectations to influence their own lives and the national political process.

Media Coverage

about DAYS OF REVOLUTION: POLITICAL UNREST IN AN IRANIAN VILLAGE (Review)
Author(s): Mary Elaine Hegland
Publication: ABOUT 10 REVIEWS IN AA, AE and other jourals
Date: 8/10/2015
Abstract: very positive reviews in about ten journals of the book, DAYS OF REVOLUTION

Associated Products

Recruitment to Revolution: Political Culture and Conflict in Iran (Book)
Title: Recruitment to Revolution: Political Culture and Conflict in Iran
Author: Mary Elaine Hegland
Abstract: During the 1979 Iranian Revolution, local culture and politics influenced national events. Rather than an elite reformulation of Shi'a Islam into revolutionary meaning, most "Aliabad" villagers relied on secular, folk political culture and pragmatic methods to evaluate the revolutionary conflict. Their desire for safety and justice, expectations of leaders, and understanding of political process developed through earlier kinship-based political coflict guided their decision-making. Only after they had switched to the dissidents' side did most villagers turn to the Shi'a Muslim revolutionary framework. The book follows processes of change in Aliabad from the early 1900s through 2012, examining how education, employment structure, higher living standards, modernization and globalization have led to more individuation, egalitarian relationships, secularization, and political education, preparing the way for villagers' expectations to influence their own lives and the national political process. Again, local change, local individuals' expectations, and transformed political culture from the bottom up are affecting national developments.
Year: 2013
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Type: Single author monograph

Days of Revolution: Political Unrest in an Iranian Village (Book)
Title: Days of Revolution: Political Unrest in an Iranian Village
Author: Mary Elaine Hegland
Abstract: Outside of Shiraz in the Fars Province of southwestern Iran lies "Aliabad." Mary Hegland arrived in this then-small agricultural village of several thousand people in the summer of 1978, unaware of the momentous changes that would sweep this town and this country in the months ahead. She became the only American researcher to witness the Islamic Revolution firsthand over her eighteen-month stay. Days of Revolution offers an insider's view of how regular people were drawn into, experienced, and influenced the 1979 Revolution and its aftermath. Conventional wisdom assumes Shi'a religious ideology fueled the revolutionary movement. But Hegland counters that the Revolution spread through much more pragmatic concerns: growing inequality, lack of development and employment opportunities, government corruption. Local expectations of leaders and the political process—expectations developed from their experience with traditional kinship-based factions—guided local villagers' attitudes and decision-making, and they often adopted the religious justifications for Revolution only after joining the uprising. Sharing stories of conflict and revolution alongside in-depth interviews, the book sheds new light on this critical historical moment. Returning to Aliabad decades later, Days of Revolution closes with a view of the village and revolution thirty years on. Over the course of several visits between 2003 and 2008, Mary Hegland investigates the lasting effects of the Revolution on the local political factions and in individual lives. As Iran remains front-page news, this intimate look at the country's recent history and its people has never been more timely or critical for understanding the critical interplay of local and global politics in Iran.
Year: 2014
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780804775687
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Residential FEllowship, Academic Year 2016-2017 National Humanities Center (Staff/Faculty/Fellow Position)
Name: Residential FEllowship, Academic Year 2016-2017 National Humanities Center
Abstract: The fellowship will be used to study the politics of Shia Moharram rituals in the Iranian settlement of Aliabad from mid 20th century through 2015. This study of revolutionary process in an Iranian village, analyzing how villagers understood and strategized about the 1979 Iranian Revolution, is based on research in Iran 6/1978-12/1979. Aliabad villagers applied Shia Muslim myth, ideology, worldview, and ritual, transformed into revolutionary meaning, to the Iranian Revolution. Seven research trips to Iran since 2003 allow investigation of Revolution’s aftermath and belief systems, strategies, and practices regarding Shia Islam and Iranian religious authorities’ teachings. Most Aliabadis were drawn to political Islam, thinking it would serve their interests and bring about a better society, then, disappointed, found ways to disengage from political Islam. Analysis will continue through to 2015.
Year: 2016

I have made some 10-15 presentations based on the book, funded partially by a NEH Summer Stipend. (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: I have made some 10-15 presentations based on the book, funded partially by a NEH Summer Stipend.
Abstract: about various aspects of the book, published with the help of a NEH summer stipend.
Author: Mary Elaine Hegland
Date: 5/24/2016
Location: San Bernardino, NYU, SCU, Stanford, SJSU, Georgetown, UA Tucson, Sweet Briar, NC State, ZANAN in CA Bay Area

I have presented some 10-12 conference papers based on the research and writing during an NEH Summer Stipend period. (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: I have presented some 10-12 conference papers based on the research and writing during an NEH Summer Stipend period.
Author: Mary Elaine Hegland
Abstract: The specific topics have varied from the politics of revolution, to changes in religious ideas and practices to movement toward secularization, and other related topics.
Date: 8/20/2015

In Anthropology of the Middle East at SCU, I required and used the book, DAYS OF REVOLUTION, prepared with the help of the NEH Summer Stipend. (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: In Anthropology of the Middle East at SCU, I required and used the book, DAYS OF REVOLUTION, prepared with the help of the NEH Summer Stipend.
Author: Mary Elaine Hegland
Abstract: I used my book, DAYS OF REVOLUTION to point to political dynamics, gender dynamics, changes in socio economics and contact with the outside world as involved in revolutionary readiness, etc.
Year: 2016
Audience: Undergraduate

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