development and persistence of racist ideas in Iran
Subtitle: politics of assimilation and the challenge of diversity
By: by Alireza Asgharzadeh.
Published: 2005
Language: eng
Number of pages: 391
Subjects: Racism -- xIran.; Assimilation (Sociology); Minorities -- Iran -- Social conditions.
Other titles: Politics of assimilation and the challenge of diversity.
Description: This study is a multidisciplinary work that draws on fields of history, sociology, literature, politics, anthropology and cultural studies to explore the origination, development, and continuation of racist ideas in Iran. It analyzes the relationships among European racist ideas, the creation of the Indo-European language family, and the emergence of modern racism in Iran, interrogating the construction of notions such as Aria, Aryan race, and Aryanism in an Iranian context. By situating Iran within the Orientalist discourse, and by exploring its cultural, linguistic, and ethnic developments in light of Orientalist/Aryanist reconstruction of Iran's history, the study examines various levels of nation-building, nationality-construction, overt nationalism and aggressive chauvinism in Iran. It shows the way in which nationalism and racism worked to place the Indo-European speaking Persian ethnic group in a position of advantage vis-a-vis Iran's non-Persian nationalities, ethnic groups, and communities. In so doing, it challenges conventional notions about Iran's history, culture and language by privileging the multinational, multicultural and multilingual character of Iranian society.Employing multiple perspectives and theoretical frameworks, the study analyzes issues of ethnic inequality, exclusion, and oppression in Iran from anti-racist and anti-colonial standpoints. It establishes the existence of racism in Iran as a salient determining factor in creating social inequality, oppression, and unequal power relations. Surveying select works of history, literature, religion, politics, and various official and non-official publications, the research examines how the dominant group uses sites such as literature, history, language, and the education system as strategic spaces from which to justify its privileged position in society. Through a critical exploration of the dominant discourse, the study suggests the possibility that the minoritized can also use their own discursive sites to resist acts of racism, colonialism, and oppression. To this end, it offers an analysis of a 'counter-hegemonic' discourse created by the marginalized to resist and combat racism. The study points to obvious limitations of these sites for the colonized and offers ways to improve their effectiveness. By way of a conclusion, the study highlights future directions for research and possibilities for democratic transformations in an Iranian as well as a Middle Eastern context.
Notes: Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 356-391)