Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and Narratives of the Enlightenment

by Ali M. Ansari (editor)

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. 

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 15, 2016

About the author

Ali Massoud Ansari is professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He is the founder of the Institute of Iranian Studies.

Reviews

[Sam Miller]

Written in pure academicese, I'm uncertain if I would really recommend this collection of essays like I have others I've read in the last year or two. The number of chapters/essays which are, in my opinion, really worth reading is lower here: Elahe Helbig's "From Narrating History to Constructing Memory: The Role of Photography in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution," Evan Siegel's "In Search of the Secret Center in Constitutional Tabriz" (about a liberal/pseudo-social-democrat secret society that played a role in the revolution), and "The Enlightenment and Historical Difference: The Case of Iran's Constitutional Revolution" by Kamran Matin were the standouts, the latter providing a very well written and succinct Marxist account of the Iranian revolution of 1906-1911 that leans on the concept of combined and uneven development. "Shrinking Borders and Expanding Vocabularies: Translation and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906" by Milad Odabaei was also very interesting! More than anything, reading this has made me want to read more of the works cited in the footnotes, like Ahmad Kasravi's History of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution: Volumes 2 and 3 and Naghmeh Sohrabi's Taken for Wonder: Nineteenth-Century Travel Accounts from Iran to Europe.