by Rasool Nafisi
Ehsan Naraghi, the famed Iranian sociologist and a consummate reformer, died today at the age of 86 in Iran. He was a thinker, and unlike most of the intellectuals of his time, he was a proponent of incremental change and reform, not a revolution. His ambition, largely unmet with reality, was to make modernization compatible with the Iranian culture, and to facilitate a homegrown modernity. He was initiator, and also a part of larger "Return Movement" of indigenizing Western influence in order to make it palatable to the Persian taste. To him however culture meant mostly religion, and he was even known to have made efforts to create a mix of the idea of monarchy and Shi'ism.
The "Return Movement", nostalgic for an imaginary Persian culture meant either to shut out the Western culture, or to make it indigenous. This was the predominant cultural disposition at the end of Pahlavi era. In fact one may argue that the Islamic movement that eventually led to the creation of Islamic republic was the outcome of this school of thinking. Another well known influence in this sphere was Ali Shariati, the Iranian sociologist, also trained in France, who advocated a class analysis and a neo-Marxist view of Shi'ism, and of course revolution of the oppressed. Another thinker, Ahamd Fardid also exerted great influence in this area, that eventually inspired Jalal Al-Ahamad to write his pamphlet "Westoxication" -- a passionate rejection of the Western culture, that found great readership. This "Return Movement" enjoyed great popularity at the time when the Pahlavi modernization, unmatched with the necessary political freedoms, was largely seemed as a sell out to the West by the new generation of educated Iranians. The movement largely influenced the students, and even some clerical neophytes like Seyed Ali Kahameni, the present leader of Iran.
Naraghi's leverage in influencing the politics was more than his writing. As a relative of Shah's wife, Farah Pahlavi, he had access to the Shah's Court. At the time, rivaling the reactionary Courtiers, Farah was in search of new ideas, and Naraghi and others like Dr. Seyyed Hussein Nasr provided them. Naraghi offered advice covering even new methods of civil engineering. Farah, a former student of architecture herself, managed to save and renovate a great number of Iranian architectural heritage, possibly influenced by Naraghi. But the overall outcome of the "Return Movement" was reaped by the opportunist clergy, always looking for a way to regain their lost power under the Pahlavis.
Naraghi was accused of being a SAVAK advisor; an accusation confirmed lately by notorious Parviz Sabeti, the SAVAK henchman, in his first interview published a few months ago. But it is also true that Naraghi used his influence to help a large number of intellectuals, including the former Iranian President Banisadr, who were arrested or harassed by SAVAK. There is a need for men like Naraghi in any dictatorship.
It is a miracle that he could save his skin after the revolution. Although he was imprisoned, but could narrowly escape the killing machine of the Islamic Republic. He was adamant that he was just a sociologist, and as such, he only offered advice, no matter who ruled. That is why some who are fast to judge like Daniel Pipe called him a traitor to his nation. He was not. He just tried to do what he could to improve the conditions in his country, and to help bring about incremental change and reform. He was not a revolutionary, and that makes him an exception among the generation of intellectuals of his time, intoxicated by the idea of revolution. He was an exceptional man, although his ideas contributed inadvertently to the disastrous "Return Movement," with its outcome, a fundamentalist revolt.
First posted on Gulf2000 academic project.
AUTHOR
Rasool Nafisi is an academic and Middle East expert living in Vienna, Virginia. His latest (co-authored) book “The Rise of Passdaran,” a monograph on the social, Political, and economic roles of the Guardian of Revolution in Iran was published by the Rand Corporation in April 2009. His other coauthored book “The Cultures of the Middle East” will be published shortly by the Globe Publishers. He is a regular contributor to various news agencies and journals including Jane’s Islamic Digest and Jane’s Intelligence Digest. He has often consulted as a source for analysis and insight by major news organizations such as the New York Times, and the Associated Press. He is working on a major article for the Foreign Policy journal on the clerical politics in Iran to be published shortly. Nafisi has a degree in law from Tehran University and a PhD from the Florida State University. He has been teaching Sociology and Comparative Religions at Strayer University since 1988.
No big loss here.
We have lost one of our most important thinkers. We do not have to agree with everything our intelectuals do or say to appreciate their worth and importance. Our intellecual collective -- our brightest minds -- can help us build a better society. But we have a history of alienating them, or rather our governments have chosen to make enemies of them and force them to be silent, or make them surrender to state policy. Or to make them choose rebellion over submission. But the state and intellectuals need not be enemies. If we learn to let them be, let them think freely without fear and coercion, we will benefit from their wisdom and intellectual power. Like free societies where thinkers thrive. We can do the same. We must.