THE IRANIAN MASSES AS A SOURCE OF SOCIAL CHANGE: THE REIGN OF MOHAMMAD MOSADDEGH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbeuropaea.2022.2.09Keywords:
masses, Elias Canetti, Mohammad Mosaddeq, protests, neighbors, Ahmad MahmoudAbstract
The crowd has played and continues to play a very important role in Iranian politics at critical moments . This article looks at its role in the mid 20th century, especially during the times of rule of Reza Shah (1925-1941) and Mohammad Mosaddegh (1951-1953). The article reviews European thought about the masses, with special emphasis on the ideas of Bulgaria-born Nobel Laureate in Literature Elias Canetti. Canetti believed that the crowd was not always irrational, evil forces, but sometimes played a positive historical role: when it demanded and enacted social change. It is exactly what happened during the times of Mosaddegh. A look at these times is made through excerpts from the Iranian novel Neighbors by Ahmad Mahmoud, through a look at the press of that time and Ervand Abrahamian’s historical writing.
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