Abstract

This article challenges the anti-structural and ahistorical turn in recent histories of the Iranian Revolution. Tracing the genealogy of this anti-structural turn to the publication of Foucault’s writings on Iran, the author argues that the continued decline of US-Iran relations, coupled with hostility toward anti-imperialist scholarship in US academia, has created the conditions for an ahistoricism in US-based scholarship on Iran. This turn is further exacerbated by the lack of accessible archives to enable rigorous analyses of the Revolution. The article concludes by distinguishing between an intellectual, one who challenges the status quo to create a more just world, and a functionary, whose scholarly contributions are guided by the precepts of foundation funding and the State Department. Ultimately the article calls for a transformation in Iranian Studies toward radical intellectualism.

摘要

本文对伊朗革命近期历史中的反结构和非历史转向提出了挑战。作者将这种反结构性转向的谱系追溯到福柯关于伊朗问题的著作的出版​​，认为美伊关系的持续恶化，加上美国学术界对反帝国主义学术的敌意，为非历史主义创造了条件。获得美国关于伊朗的奖学金。由于缺乏可获取的档案来对革命进行严格的分析，这种转变进一步加剧。文章最后区分了知识分子和官员，前者挑战现状以创造一个更加公正的世界，后者的学术贡献受到基金会资助和国务院的指导。