https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/ The Revolutionary Research en daily 1 Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0330 Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0330 https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_233277.html In recent decades, Iranian society has witnessed a persistent confrontation between two dominant political discourses: the supporters and opponents of the Islamic Republic. This ideological divide has weakened political cohesion and deepened social polarization. The central question of this study is how the 12-Day Iran–Israel War (June 2025) served as a “critical juncture” that redefined these rival discourses, fostered national solidarity, and what mechanisms can sustain this unity in the post-war context.The main objective is to identify and explain mechanisms of sustaining political cohesion in post-war Iran. Sub-objectives include analyzing the roots of pre-war discourses, examining the role of domestic and foreign media in shaping solidarity, and exploring how the concept of the “Other” was redefined after the war.This qualitative, descriptive-analytical study applies Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse analysis framework. The research corpus consists of discourse texts related to the 12-Day War, purposefully selected and analyzed using qualitative content analysis, conceptual coding, and discourse interpretation.Findings reveal that the war, by generating a shared external threat, redefined key signifiers such as “homeland,” “independence,” and “security” as common elements between opposing discourses. This symbolic convergence reduced polarization and created a renewed sense of national unity. Media played a key roleــofficial outlets emphasized resistance, while independent and online media highlighted defense of Iranian identity.The study concludes that sustaining post-war cohesion requires managing conflicts, fostering dialogue, building trust in media, and pragmatically redefining the “Other.” Ultimately, the 12-Day War created an opportunity to rebuild national identity and transcend political divides. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_230531.html The events of revolutions in different geographical contexts, although they initially showed similar results, such as the spirit of change and excitement, have subsequently determined different paths, and this has been mainly due to the type of leadership in the post-revolutionary era. The fact that Deng Xiaoping's leadership in China, unlike Mao, resulted in growth and development that was called the miracle of the century; an event that was so rapid is more than anything else an indication of a leader's understanding of the requirements of continuing the revolution with achievement-making; a role that has, of course, been neglected and ignored, because from whatever angle this development is considered, Deng's leadership and the role of his strategic rationality in the development of China today are undeniable. In this regard, the central question of this article is: What role has Deng's strategic rationality played in China's development today, and what indicators and components does this strategic rationality comprise? The findings of this study, using the method of historical content analysis related to Deng's political literature and his politics in Chinese history, show that the development experience of post-revolutionary China was indebted to Deng's leadership, which paved the way for development thanks to strategic rationality; a strategic rationality that included indicators such as political tragic thinking, the policy of maintaining the status quo, prioritizing issues, reality as a guiding light for policy, pragmatism, and the creation of self-correcting mechanisms. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_233798.html Islamism, as one of the most significant intellectual and political currents in contemporary Iran, played a fundamental role in the socio-political developments, especially during the Second Pahlavi period. Confronted with the Pahlavi modernization process, this movement sought both to preserve the religious identity of society and to redefine the relationship between tradition and modernity within the framework of political Islam. The importance of investigating this subject lies in the fact that a precise understanding of the internal transformations of the Islamist movement makes it possible to recognize the historical context for the emergence of the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent discursive developments. The main research question addressed by this study is: What trajectory of transformation, in terms of ideology, organization, and political action, did the Islamist movement undergo during the Second Pahlavi era? Accordingly, this study adopts a qualitative approach, employing the “political current analysis” method to examine the transformation of this movement from the emergence of Fada'iyan-e Islam to the formation of the Islamic Coalition Societies. Research data have been collected through documentary study and content analysis of historical sources. The findings indicate that Islamism during this period evolved from a reactive and radical movement toward greater organization and institutionalization in the form of cohesive associations. This metamorphosis paved the way for its influential role in the Islamic Revolution. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_228362.html This article analyzes the socialist discourse of the Tudeh Party during the Iranian Islamic Revolution (1978-1979) using Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory. Employing discourse analysis, it examines the representation and structuring of key concepts such as nodal points, master signifiers, empty signifiers, moments, identity, and subject position within the party’s socialist discourse. Data were collected from primary Tudeh Party texts through purposive sampling and analyzed qualitatively based on Laclau and Mouffe’s theoretical framework. The findings indicate that the discourse frames the four dimensions of economy, society, culture, and politics within Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism serves as the nodal point and master signifier of this discourse, with its adherents identifying as Marxist-Leninists and labeling others as non-Marxist-Leninists. Empty signifiers include equality, justice, freedom, independence from capitalism, and progress. Key moments encompass class, party, struggle, democracy, justice, freedom, imperialism, capitalism, and socialism. This discourse rejects the existing despotic monarchy, constitutional monarchy, liberalism, Islamic monarchy, and Maoism, positioning socialism as its desired political myth and ideal state. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_232384.html Social and political transformations often emerge through popular protests, reflecting public discontent and structural weaknesses in political and social systems. In Iran, the period from 2009 to 2019 witnessed three major protest waves: the Green Movement (June 2009), the December 2017–January 2018 unrest, and the November 2019 protests triggered by a sudden fuel price hike. This study examines their core similarities and differences, hypothesizing an evolution in nature-from political to economic, and ultimately socio-economic. Using a descriptive-analytical and comparative library-based approach, the research draws on media reports and academic sources. The 2009 protests were primarily political, centered in Tehran and major cities, led by urban youth, students, and the middle class demanding electoral legitimacy and civil rights. In contrast, the 2017- 2018 protests arose from economic grievances—unemployment, corruption, and inflation- and were leaderless, non-ideological, and rooted in marginalized urban and provincial areas. Participants were largely workers and unemployed youth. The 2019 protests, sparked fuel price increase, rapidly spread across 24 provinces-including small towns and rural regions-expressing deep socio-economic frustration. Comparative analysis reveals a clear shift: early protests emphasized political rights, while later ones focused on economic survival. Geographically, unrest expanded from 8 provinces in 2009 to 24 in 2019. Findings indicate that socio-economic distress has become the main driver of instability. The study concludes that unmet livelihood demands increasingly fuel mass dissent. It recommends that Iranian authorities prioritize structural economic reforms, reduce corruption, strengthen social protections, and enhance transparency in decision-making to restore public trust and prevent future cycles of unrest. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_233436.html This study aims to examine the impact of the Ashura discourse on the formation of Shia collective identity and its role in inspiring justice-oriented movements in the contemporary world, employing an interdisciplinary approach combining sociology and theology. The main research question is: How does the Ashura discourse contribute to the reinforcement of Shia collective identity and the development of contemporary justice-oriented movements? The sub-questions focus on the Qur’anic and theological components, the relationship between Ziyarat Ashura and collective identity and social capital, and the interdisciplinary reinterpretation of Ashura in social action. The research adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology of the interdisciplinary type, integrating the analysis of religious texts, Ziyarat Ashura, and sociological sources. The findings indicate that Ashura, as a socio-religious discourse, consolidates key elements of collective identity, including justice-seeking, allegiance to the Imamate, and martyrdom, while the symbolic and ritual reproduction in Ziyarat Ashura generates symbolic and social capital. This capital plays a pivotal role in mobilizing and guiding both domestic and transnational justice-oriented movements, such as the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Shia movements in Iraq and Bahrain. The study concludes that an interdisciplinary rereading of Ashura, combining Qur’anic teachings and Ziyarat Ashura with sociological theories, provides a novel framework for analyzing collective identity and justice-oriented action, effectively elucidating the role of religion in contemporary social transformations. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_230530.html Iran’s dependence on oil revenues has profoundly shaped its political and economic structures, resulting in the formation of a rentier state. This study examines how the rentier state structure has affected the formation and functioning of civil society, focusing on the governments of Ahmadinejad (2005–2013) and Rouhani (2013–2021). Using descriptive-analytical methods, the findings indicate that the rentier state, by reducing the government’s dependence on society, limiting accountability, and concentrating power, has hindered the growth of independent non-governmental organizations and weakened civic participation. Despite differences in oil revenues and political discourse, both administrations reproduced rentier dynamics, obstructing the emergence of a strong and independent civil society in Iran. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_230532.html This article analyzes and reinterprets the concept of resistance in the political thought of Imam Khomeini by drawing on theories of sovereignty in modern political philosophy. The central issue of study is whether it is possible to offer a new analytical understanding of resistance in Imam Khomeini’s political thought based on modern sovereignty. The main research question explores how the concept of resistance in Imam Khomeini’s thought can be analyzed and interpreted in view of modern theories of sovereignty. Using a text-centered hermeneutic method, the study examines Imam Khomeini’s views alongside seminal theories of sovereignty by modern thinkers. The article’s hypothesis is that concepts such as Velayat-e Faqih, religious freedom, prudential rationality (maslahat), and cultural-economic self-sufficiency form a conceptual framework for resistance within the structure of Islamic sovereignty. The key contribution of this study lies in articulating the theoretical capacity of resistance in Imam Khomeini’s thought, both in terms of divine sovereignty and in its engagement with the modern world and rival political theories. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_230794.html A critical re-examination of the ideology and praxis of contemporary religious movements has become increasingly imperative. Among these is the Maktab-e Qur'an movement, which emerged in the (1356) in reaction to the intellectual and social transformations within Kurdish society, under the leadership of Ahmad Moffitzadeh. Utilizing a Foucauldian genealogical approach and drawing upon library resources and oral history, this study examines the disciplinary mechanisms employed by the Maktab-e Qur'an in Kurdistan to construct the religious subject, and interrogates the nature of its interconnection and relationship with the revolutionary subject of the Islamic Revolution. The central research question is: through what specific disciplinary techniques did Maktab-e Qur'an reproduce its religious subjects, and how did these mechanisms operate and interact with the Iranian revolutionary subject? Findings demonstrate that Maktab-e Qur'an, through the deployment of techniques such as Othering (designating groups like leftists, the Tariqah (Sufi order) movement, and traditional clerics as enemies), the rewriting of history (distorting historical narratives to control consciousness), the political economy of the body (managing subsistence to counter leftist appeals), spatial distribution (controlling individuals based on gender, age, and literacy), and self-cultivation (promoting repentance and norm internalization), coupled with homogenization with the central revolutionary subject (its insertion into the official state discourse), produced compliant and uniform religious subjects. Consequently, these techniques enabled Maktab-e Qur'an to construct a unique entity termed the "Maktabi Subject," characterized by ideological conformity, disciplinability, and distinctness from rival discourses, while simultaneously redefining the Kurdish subject as aligned and synonymous with the Iranian revolutionary subject. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_231708.html The issue of religion and religiosity in contemporary Iran has remained a subject of sustained scholarly interest, especially in light of significant transformations within the country and the broader international context. Alongside the fluctuations in religious adherence across generations, the influence of the level and type of religiosity-understood through public perceptions and attitudes toward religion- on other cultural, social, and political variables represents a compelling area of inquiry. One of these dependent variables, which carries importance in all societies and particularly in post-revolutionary Iranian society, is the level of political violence and political tolerance both among the general public and within governing structures. From a sociological and political science perspective, this study first explores theoretical and empirical dimensions of religiosity and the attitudes it fosters among different social groups. The innovative contribution of this research lies in its examination of the relationship between religious attitudes and the extent of political violence and tolerance in Iranian society. Drawing upon theories from political science, sociology, and peace studies, the study employs a survey-based methodology using a structured questionnaire administered to a sample of 405 respondents in Tehran. The findings suggest that the type of religiosity an individual adheres to plays a significant role in either promoting or mitigating political violence and  tolerance. In particular, those who hold a post-traditional interpretation of religion rooted in personal experience tend to show greater tolerance in political matters and oppose various forms of violence and political authoritarianism in society. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_233282.html Social capital is a critical component of the soft power of political systems, significantly influencing a country's effectiveness in both domestic and foreign policy arenas. Social hope is a key dimension of social capital, reflecting the capacity to foster a shared belief among members of society that the future can be meaningfully different and better than the past. Various drivers contribute to shaping social hope within society. The primary objective of this study is, first, to identify these drivers and, subsequently, to address the central question: based on the identified drivers, what scenarios can be envisioned for the future of social hope in Iran?This study adopts a foresight-oriented and exploratory approach. Methodologically, it combines two scenario-planning techniques—those proposed by Peter Schwartz and James Dator—for developing scenarios. The research instruments included semi-structured and structured questionnaires administered to experts, and the data were analyzed using MICMAC software.The findings indicate that the interaction of these drivers allows for the construction of four plausible scenarios: a fragmented and vulnerable society (fragile and suspended society), a potential scenario of an anomic and disintegrated society (social collapse), and a desirable scenario of a balanced society.Overall, the status of the drivers shaping social hope in Iranian society is far from optimal, primarily due to the dysfunctionalities within the political–social system. Accordingly, it is imperative that strategies aimed at promoting national unity and social cohesion be revisited and strengthened within policymaking institutions. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_219488.html Islamic teachings are very important and rich resources that, by examining and using them in the fields of management sciences, can solve many issues and problems in organizations. Research conducted and presenting management models from Islamic teachings shows a content dispersion regarding the presentation and explanation of management models at the level of Islamic society, which has caused confusion among managers in using these models. The aim of this research is to metasynthesis of research conducted in the field of management models based on Islamic teachings to prevent this confusion and use by managers in Islamic society. The method of conducting this research was qualitative. Data and components were extracted using thematic analysis method from component extraction, which was carried out using MAXQDA software in relation to thematic network design. The codes extracted from these studies using thematic analysis method were classified into 129 open codes, 46 basic themes, and 5 organizing themes. The results of the study were presented as a research model in Islamic society management. Which included an overarching theme called the Islamic management model and five key indicator components including managerial, personality, interactional, belief, and capital factors were identified. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_230188.html This article examines the representation of political violence in Iran after the Islamic Revolution (1979-1982) from the perspective of the three main ideologies of that period, namely Islamism, Marxism, and liberalism. The main aim of this study is to analyze how political violence is represented in political speeches based on these ideologies. Data were collected through documentary study and analysis of publications related to each of the ideologies. The analysis method includes examining James Paul Gee's seven building tasks of language (Significance, Identities, Relationships, Activities, Connections, Politics and Sign Systems and Knowledge). The findings show that the representation of political violence by the main ideologies of this period was based on justification/denunciation of political violence within the framework of legitimate violence/illegitimate violence by Islamists, the authenticity and necessity of violence in line with historical evolution by Marxists, and non-violence by liberals. The study of the representation of political violence in the context of the ideologies of this period led us to the overarching concept of revolutionary violence. In the post-revolutionary period, each of the ideologies played different roles in creating the violent situation of that period. The Islamists through revolutionary institutions, the Marxists through armed struggle, and the liberals through insufficient efforts for a peaceful transition all played their part in shaping this situation. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_234688.html The protests of 1401 AH that followed the death of Mahsa Amini were one of the most serious protests after the revolution in terms of complexity and scope. In these protests, protesters used numerous and diverse tools in different fields: cultural, economic, social, political, media, legal, etc. One of the distinctive aspects of these protests compared to past protests is the prominence of their “cultural and artistic” dimension. The activists of the "protest art" movement, centered on some protest artists, were able to publish numerous and inspiring works in a short period of time to provoke and encourage people to protest. Among the various arts, protest music played a pivotal role in the protest art movement due to its ease of production and distribution, as well as its high influence on the media consumption tastes of a generation.Therefore, this article will attempt to answer the question, "What was the network of protest music themes in the 1401 protests like?" To answer this question, the research data were analyzed using thematic analysis method. The network of themes drawn as a result of the research, with 31 organizing themes and 6 overarching themes, shows what perspectives and norms the artistic movement promoted in the protests and what demands it sought to make social. Based on the findings, "blackening the situation in Iran," "giving hope to protesters," and the possibility of achieving "freedom" and "prosperity" conditional on "continuing protests" are the main themes instilled in the audience. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_235589.html Iran's contemporary history is full of bitter experiences of structural degeneration during the Qajar and Pahlavi periods; periods that distanced society from its religious identity and the path of civilizational excellence through adherence to Western models, political tyranny, systematic corruption, and de-Islamization. In contrast to this trend, the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, led by Imam Khomeini (RA) and continued in the thought and management of the Supreme Leader, was considered a turning point in rebuilding the legitimacy, independence, and spirituality of society. The main issue of this research is to explain how society transitioned from the structural degeneration of previous governments to civilizational excellence after the Islamic Revolution. The present research, using a descriptive-analytical approach and a historical-library comparative method, has examined the theoretical foundations, characteristics of Qajar and Pahlavi decadence, and the achievements of the Islamic Revolution in two areas of thought and practice.The research findings show that the pattern of social transformation in Iran after the revolution was based on two components: "religious leadership" and "divine ideology." Imam Khomeini (RA) rejected secularism from the foundation and introduced religion into the context of political power with the theory of Velayat-e-Faqih, thus replacing hereditary royal legitimacy with divine legitimacy. The Supreme Leader also promoted the path of the revolution from the consolidation stage to "Islamic civilization" by explaining the "Declaration of the Second Step of the Revolution" and the strategy of "Jihad of Explanation." https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_236426.html revolutionary period. Over approximately two decades of political engagement, it was able to leverage its social, cultural, and political capital to become the most effective political force in the political arena of the Islamic Republic. Nevertheless, since the mid-2010s, the discursive power and mobilizing capacity of this discourse have significantly diminished, making its transformations a subject of scholarly inquiry.In this article, drawing on several components of Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse analysis, an attempt has been made to examine the internal reasons for the dislocation and lack of consolidation of the reformist discourse. Using this theoretical framework and method, it is argued that the dislocation of the reformist discourse is primarily due to theoretical weaknesses and the continued evolution of its theorization over time. Moreover, based on these findings, this study seeks to outline the future of this discourse and predict plausible scenarios considering generational, gendered, environmental, and international developments. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_237374.html The three-year reign of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar was filled with scenes of conflict and hostility between the monarchist institution on the one hand and the constitutionalists on the other, which led to the coup d'état of Mohammad Ali Shah. However, this event was not merely military, but rather the result of a deep confrontation between rival political ideas in this period. The present study answers the question of how the conflict between the idea of ​​democracy and tradition paved the way for the coup. Using the historical-discursive method of Quintin Skinner, this study reconstructs the historical meanings of the concepts of "democracy" and "tradition" in the discourse of the conflicting parties, the constitutionalists and the traditionalists, and shows how these ideas were used as "discursive acts" to justify or counter the coup. The findings of this study show that: 1) the coup was the result of a discursive battle over political legitimacy - not simply a power struggle, 2) Mohammad Ali Shah, with the help of traditionalist thinking, justified the coup as a legitimate act to restore the "traditional system" by redefining concepts such as "system" and "sharia". As a result, constitutionalists legitimized their resistance by redefining "law", "democracy", and "equality". https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_238155.html Even if the demonstrations and instabilities in Iran during the years 2018, 2019 and 2022 had some potentials for developing into a revolution, because of the lack of leadership as well as social and cultural capitals failed to change to a widespread revolution. Using Ben Manski’s framework entitled movement building analysis and using the Popperian situational analysis, this paper attempts to analyze those demonstrations. In the end, considering the four shortcomings of the recent instabilities, it is concluded that the movements that wants to topple the Islamic Republic can only be successful if they have a centralized leadership enjoying social and cultural capitals, while the other side lacks those elements. In addition, thanks to the Western cultural hegemony, the prevalence of neoliberalism in the current societies which promotes post-ideology, post-Marxism, individualism, hedonism, reformism, dialogue, and prevents any sort of violence is in itself a serious obstacle to the revolution as the term was understood in the 20th century. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_240370.html Good governance, as one of the prominent concepts in the field of development, has attracted the attention of thinkers in economics and politics in recent decades. Daniel Kaufmann has introduced indicators for achieving good governance. The objective of this research is to explicate Daniel Kaufmann's theory of good governance and critique its implicit philosophical foundations, with emphasis on the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei. Analyzing these foundations is of fundamental importance for societies such as Iran, which seek to formulate an indigenous model of governance, because distinctions or conflicts in foundational principles determine the level of acceptance of a theory. The main question of this article is: What are the implicit philosophical foundations of Daniel Kaufmann's theory of good governance in the four realms of ontology, anthropology, teleology, and ethics? This study employs a descriptive-analytical approach and the qualitative content analysis method to extract the hidden philosophical foundations within Kaufmann's theory through his primary works, and then critiques those foundations within the framework of desirable governance from the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei. The findings of this research indicate that, despite its achievements in the objective measurement of governance, Kaufmann's theory is based on empiricist ontological, economic anthropological, development-oriented teleological, and instrumental ethical presuppositions. Critiquing and evaluating these foundations in light of Ayatollah Khamenei's thought—with its components of monotheistic ontology, dual-dimensional anthropology, perfection-oriented teleology, and virtue-based ethics—reveals that the neglect of the spiritual dimension and the transcendent ends of humanity is the central weakness of Kaufmann's theory. https://trs.ri-khomeini.ac.ir/article_242818.html This study analyzes Davoud Feirahi’s interpretation of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and evaluates his attempt to rethink Shiite political jurisprudence through this historical experience. The Islamic Revolution is treated as a critical turning point in Shiite political thought that reactivated debates on the relationship between religion, state, and political power. Feirahi regards the revolution not merely as a political event, but as a historical opportunity to reconstruct political jurisprudence in response to the modern state and democratic requirements. Using a qualitative method and content analysis of Feirahi’s writings and speeches, the research examines his intellectual foundations, methodological approach, and key concepts of state, governance, and power. It also explores his intradiscursive critiques of post-revolutionary Islamic political trends.The findings show that Feirahi distinguishes between religious texts, jurisprudential tradition, and the historical application of jurisprudence, understanding political jurisprudence as a historical and institutional form of knowledge capable of gradual evolution. He interprets the Islamic Revolution as a transition from a sultanic order to a republican one and as a foundation for religious democracy. At the same time, he warns against religious authoritarianism, the weakening of republican principles, and the erosion of legalism. Overall, the importance of Feirahi’s thought lies in opening new theoretical horizons for the critique and reform of evolutionary Shiite political jurisprudence, rather than in proposing a definitive model of Islamic governance.