A Social Revolution

Politics and the Welfare State in Iran

Bibliographic Data

ID23152012
AuthorsKatherine Harris (0000-0003-2660-3638, corresponding author), Kevan Harris
Year2017
Pages336
Publication date2017-08-08
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueSocial Revolution (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/9780520965843
OpenAlexW4247684629
Open LibraryOL29762369M
ISBN9780520965843
LanguageEN
Citations received61

For decades, political observers and pundits have characterized the Islamic Republic of Iran as an ideologically rigid state on the verge of collapse, exclusively connected to a narrow social base. In A Social Revolution , Kevan Harris convincingly demonstrates how they are wrong. Previous studies ignore the forceful consequences of three decades of social change following the 1979 revolution. Today, more people in the country are connected to welfare and social policy institutions than to any other form of state organization. In fact, much of Iran’s current political turbulence is the result of the success of these social welfare programs, which have created newly educated and mobilized social classes advocating for change. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Iran, Harris shows how the revolutionary regime endured through the expansion of health, education, and aid programs that have both embedded the state in everyday life and empowered its challengers. This focus on the social policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran opens a new line of inquiry into the study of welfare states in countries where they are often overlooked or ignored.

Political science · Sociology · Gender, Education, and Development Issues · Islamic Studies and History · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · History · Iran · Social conditions

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