Saeid Golkar
Biographic Data
| ID | 377083 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Saeid Golkar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Saeid |
| FAMILY NAME | Golkar |
| SIGNATURE | GOLKAR S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northwestern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2673-8877 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Sentinel Regime
This paper examines the critical yet understudied role of Herasat, Iran’s security offices embedded in state and semi-state institutions, in sustaining the Islamic Republic’s authoritarian regime. Functioning as a panopticon-like apparatus, Herasat systematically monitors and controls state employees, enforces ideological conformity, and suppresses dissent. While substantial research exists on Iran’s coercive entities, such as the Islamic Revolut…
Authoritarian Upgrading in Action
Dictatorships are a living phenomenon, constantly adapting to survive in a hostile environment. Like previous protests, “The Women, Life, Freedom” (WLF) movement was brutally suppressed by the regime's security forces, resulting in the slaughtering of hundreds and injuring thousands of Iranians, mostly youth. Despite the regime's unprecedented brutality, it took months to suppress the protesters and restore the political order. The scope and scal…
New Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africa
Examines new authoritarian practices and state control in MENA countries to target and neutralise dissidents Identifies the continuities and discontinuities in the practice of authoritarianism in the MENA region Promotes a comparative approach when analysing new forms of authoritarian control Offers an analysis of 17 MENA counties: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tu…
Iran after Khamenei
The Eternal Revolution
The victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election made many scholars revise their categorization of political factions in Iran. They changed these categorizations of factions and of the dichotomy of conservative/reformist parties to better represent the new political realities in Iran. Ahmadinejad and his core supporters did not fit into the conservative block. Some called them neo-conservatives, while others called them hardli…
Clerical militia and securitization of seminary schools in Iran
The Rule of the Basij in Iranian Politics
Manipulated Society
Iran's Revolutionary Guard
University under Siege
The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Professors’ Basij Organization (PBO) and its role in maintaining state control over Iranian universities. This study will examine why and how the PBO became involved in politics in general and in controlling Iranian universities in particular, and will discuss the implications of the expansion of the PBO at Iranian universities. While the PBO has been helping the Islamic regime contro…
The Feminization of Control
The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Women’s Basij Organization and its role in maintaining social order in Iran. This paper examines how and why the Islamic republic of Iran (IRI) uses female Basij members as agents of social control. During the past three decades, the IRI has recruited and indoctrinated a group of Iranian women through the Women’s Basij Organization, and has used these women to guard Islamic values and…
Organization of the Oppressed or Organization for Oppressing
In post-revolutionary Iran, the Basij militia group has helped the leadership of the country maintain political control by recruiting, indoctrinating, and organizing Iranians. As a semi-official pro-governmental militia, the Basij has controlled Iran's society by (1) engaging in local defence, (2) conducting surveillance, (3) policing society, and (4) suppressing dissidents. The militia group has also participated in national defence operations. …
Cultural Engineering Under Authoritarian Regimes
The purpose of this article is to analyze the efforts that have been made to Islamize Iranian universities, specifically since the emergence of hardliners in 2005. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic regime relentlessly intensified its efforts to Islamize universities to train a new generation of ideologically driven students. In the three decades following the Revolution, three major periods of university Islamization have been implem…
Paramilitarization of the Economy
The Basij, a massive Iranian paramilitary organization, has played a crucial role in the country's politics, economy, and society at large for the past two decades. While the Basij's increased formal involvement in the Iranian economy was initially meant to guarantee the welfare of its personnel, the Basij has since extended its influence to every sector of the economy, from construction and real estate to the stock market. The expansion of its e…
Politics of Piety
This article aims to analyze the role of the Basij militia in asserting moral control over Iranian society, with a particular focus on the Basij's elevated stature following the end of the Iran–Iraq war. The article examines how and why the Basij became involved in enforcing the principle of Amr be Maruf va Nahy az Monkar (commanding the right and forbidding the wrong), a critical component of the Iranian regime's strategy to create a “pious soci…
Manipulated Society
University under Siege
The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Professors’ Basij Organization (PBO) and its role in maintaining state control over Iranian universities. This study will examine why and how the PBO became involved in politics in general and in controlling Iranian universities in particular, and will discuss the implications of the expansion of the PBO at Iranian universities. While the PBO has been helping the Islamic regime contro…
Politics of Piety
This article aims to analyze the role of the Basij militia in asserting moral control over Iranian society, with a particular focus on the Basij's elevated stature following the end of the Iran–Iraq war. The article examines how and why the Basij became involved in enforcing the principle of Amr be Maruf va Nahy az Monkar (commanding the right and forbidding the wrong), a critical component of the Iranian regime's strategy to create a “pious soci…
Iran after Khamenei
Cultural Engineering Under Authoritarian Regimes
The purpose of this article is to analyze the efforts that have been made to Islamize Iranian universities, specifically since the emergence of hardliners in 2005. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic regime relentlessly intensified its efforts to Islamize universities to train a new generation of ideologically driven students. In the three decades following the Revolution, three major periods of university Islamization have been implem…
Clerical militia and securitization of seminary schools in Iran
Iran's Revolutionary Guard
The Feminization of Control
The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Women’s Basij Organization and its role in maintaining social order in Iran. This paper examines how and why the Islamic republic of Iran (IRI) uses female Basij members as agents of social control. During the past three decades, the IRI has recruited and indoctrinated a group of Iranian women through the Women’s Basij Organization, and has used these women to guard Islamic values and…
Paramilitarization of the Economy
The Basij, a massive Iranian paramilitary organization, has played a crucial role in the country's politics, economy, and society at large for the past two decades. While the Basij's increased formal involvement in the Iranian economy was initially meant to guarantee the welfare of its personnel, the Basij has since extended its influence to every sector of the economy, from construction and real estate to the stock market. The expansion of its e…
Politics of Piety
This article aims to analyze the role of the Basij militia in asserting moral control over Iranian society, with a particular focus on the Basij's elevated stature following the end of the Iran–Iraq war. The article examines how and why the Basij became involved in enforcing the principle of Amr be Maruf va Nahy az Monkar (commanding the right and forbidding the wrong), a critical component of the Iranian regime's strategy to create a “pious soci…
Organization of the Oppressed or Organization for Oppressing
In post-revolutionary Iran, the Basij militia group has helped the leadership of the country maintain political control by recruiting, indoctrinating, and organizing Iranians. As a semi-official pro-governmental militia, the Basij has controlled Iran's society by (1) engaging in local defence, (2) conducting surveillance, (3) policing society, and (4) suppressing dissidents. The militia group has also participated in national defence operations. …
Cultural Engineering Under Authoritarian Regimes
The purpose of this article is to analyze the efforts that have been made to Islamize Iranian universities, specifically since the emergence of hardliners in 2005. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic regime relentlessly intensified its efforts to Islamize universities to train a new generation of ideologically driven students. In the three decades following the Revolution, three major periods of university Islamization have been implem…
Paramilitarization of the Economy
The Basij, a massive Iranian paramilitary organization, has played a crucial role in the country's politics, economy, and society at large for the past two decades. While the Basij's increased formal involvement in the Iranian economy was initially meant to guarantee the welfare of its personnel, the Basij has since extended its influence to every sector of the economy, from construction and real estate to the stock market. The expansion of its e…
University under Siege
The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Professors’ Basij Organization (PBO) and its role in maintaining state control over Iranian universities. This study will examine why and how the PBO became involved in politics in general and in controlling Iranian universities in particular, and will discuss the implications of the expansion of the PBO at Iranian universities. While the PBO has been helping the Islamic regime contro…
The Feminization of Control
The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Women’s Basij Organization and its role in maintaining social order in Iran. This paper examines how and why the Islamic republic of Iran (IRI) uses female Basij members as agents of social control. During the past three decades, the IRI has recruited and indoctrinated a group of Iranian women through the Women’s Basij Organization, and has used these women to guard Islamic values and…
Iran's Revolutionary Guard
The Rule of the Basij in Iranian Politics
Manipulated Society
Clerical militia and securitization of seminary schools in Iran
The Eternal Revolution
The victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election made many scholars revise their categorization of political factions in Iran. They changed these categorizations of factions and of the dichotomy of conservative/reformist parties to better represent the new political realities in Iran. Ahmadinejad and his core supporters did not fit into the conservative block. Some called them neo-conservatives, while others called them hardli…
Iran after Khamenei
New Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africa
Examines new authoritarian practices and state control in MENA countries to target and neutralise dissidents Identifies the continuities and discontinuities in the practice of authoritarianism in the MENA region Promotes a comparative approach when analysing new forms of authoritarian control Offers an analysis of 17 MENA counties: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tu…
The Sentinel Regime
This paper examines the critical yet understudied role of Herasat, Iran’s security offices embedded in state and semi-state institutions, in sustaining the Islamic Republic’s authoritarian regime. Functioning as a panopticon-like apparatus, Herasat systematically monitors and controls state employees, enforces ideological conformity, and suppresses dissent. While substantial research exists on Iran’s coercive entities, such as the Islamic Revolut…
Authoritarian Upgrading in Action
Dictatorships are a living phenomenon, constantly adapting to survive in a hostile environment. Like previous protests, “The Women, Life, Freedom” (WLF) movement was brutally suppressed by the regime's security forces, resulting in the slaughtering of hundreds and injuring thousands of Iranians, mostly youth. Despite the regime's unprecedented brutality, it took months to suppress the protesters and restore the political order. The scope and scal…
Islamic Studies and History (13 works) · Political science (13 works) · Law (11 works) · Politics (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East (8 works) · History (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Islam (6 works) · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence (5 works)