IRANIAN YOUTH: THE MAIN PROTAGONIST OF THE 1979 REVOLUTION

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
THURSDAY 31 JANUARY 2019 - 11h/13h

LE BAL HOSTS THE SEMINAR "REVISITING THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION OF 1979" LED BY MARIE LADIER-FOULADI AT THE EHESS ON THE OCCASION OF THE EXHIBITION ENGHELAB STREET, A REVOLUTION THROUGH BOOKS, IRAN 1979-198. THIS SECOND SESSION ON THE ROLE PLAYED BY IRANIAN YOUTH IN THE 1979 CULTURAL REVOLUTION WILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH EXTENSIONS TO THE CURRENT EXHIBITION.

The Iranian population has remained particularly young for a long time. However, this "biological" youth did not find social representation until the late 1960s. The emergence of the "young" category expressed the new form of individuation that extended to large social strata in Iranian urban areas. The young people, aware of their common characteristics, began to think of themselves as a separate group and then tried to assert, little by little, their differences compared to the older generations. They mainly opposed the patriarchal order of the family based on the hierarchical hegemony of age and gender. At the same time, they have sought to forge a social identity and invent their own social frameworks (gangs, rallies, clubs and associations). But the political locking of the social space left young people no way out to gain autonomy and development, and forced them to live under the influence of their families.  A feeling of frustration, anger, even revolt developed among Iranian youth, mainly from the middle urban strata, which gradually turned into an opposition to the system and a demand for political freedom. In the major cities, the scattered demonstrations against the regime, joined by other social categories, led to a crystallization effect, leading to revolutionary days and the overthrow of the monarchy in February 1979.

With

Marie Ladier-Fouladi is a socio-demographer, research director at the CNRS - EHESS. Her current research focuses on the populationist policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In particular, she has published Iran: Un monde de paradoxes (Atalante, 2009), Iran, reportage intellectuel 1978-2014 (Vacarme 68, 2014), and La sécularisation en Iran sous la République islamique (Raison publique, 2015).

Chowra Makaremi is an anthropologist and researcher at the CNRS, associated with the Institut de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux sociaux - IRIS. Her work focuses on the anthropology of the State, the legal and ordinary forms of violence and the experience of the subjects, particularly in situations of exile.

Practical info

Table ronde organisée dans le cadre du séminaire « Revisiter la Révolution iranienne de 1979 » de Marie Ladier-Fouladi de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales

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