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Abstract
The fall of the Qajar dynasty and the rise of the Pahlavi government marked the beginning of important changes in Iran. Reza Shah’s reign (1925–1941) is significant in shaping the intellectual foundations of modern Iran because of the state’s efforts to establish a modern government and create a modern society.
The idea of one state, one culture, and one nation as a fundamental principle in state-building predates his coming to power, so, alongside state-building projects, Reza Shah undertook major cultural reforms. He established new institutions and organizations to define and propagate concepts such as national unity, national identity, loyalty to the monarchy, and some elements of modernity. This article examines how one of these institutions, Sazman-e Parvaresh-e Afkar [Thought Development Organization], active between 1938 and 1941, contributed to reconstructing Iranian national identity. It specifically analyzes the activities of the ‘Public Speech Commission’, a branch of this institution that sought to guide public opinion towards modernity and national unity.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest reported by the author.
Notes
1 ‘Sokhanrani-ye Dr. Ahmad Matin Daftari, vazir-e dadgostari dar mowred-e sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar’ [Lecture by Dr Matin Daftari, Minister of Justice on the Thought Development Organization], Majmouʿeh Hoghooghi Vol.94 (Tehran, 1939), pp.1–8.
2 P. Avery, Modern Iran (New York: F. A. Praeger, 1965), pp.210–23; for more recent research see A.M. Tabatabaei, No Conquest, No Defeat: Iran's National Security Strategy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), pp.63–94.
3 M. Bahar, Tarikh-e- mokhtasar-e ahzab-e siasi-ye Iran [A Brief History of Political Parties in Iran] (Tehran: Zavvar, 1921), p.17: https://archive.org/details/1_20210609_20210609.
4 M. Faghfoory, ‘The Ulama-State Relations in Iran: 1921–1941’, International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.19, No. 4 (1987), pp.414–15.
5 S. Hosseini and V. Asadzadeh, ‘Moʿzaleh dialektikal-e rowshanfekre-e Irani:dowlat garaii ya dowlat setizi’ [The Dialectical Dilemma of the Iranian Intellectual: Pro-state or Anti-state] Dowlat pazhouhi, Vol.20 (2020), pp.105–29. https://doi.org/10.22054/tssq.2020.10924.
6 T. Grigor, ‘Recultivating “Good Taste”: The Early Pahlavi Modernists and Their Society for National Heritage’, Iranian Studies, Vol.37, No.1(2004), p.18.
7 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar (jostari bar sazman ha va siasat ha-ye farhangi-ye Iran dar dowreh-ye Reza Shah)’ [Thought Development Organization (Research on Iranian Cultural Organizations and Policies in the Reza Shah Era)], Ganjineh-Ye Asnad, No.21–22 (1996), p.72; F. Tayebi, ‘Tarikh-e- nakhostin farhangestan-e-Iran’ [The history of Iran’s First Academy], Ketab-e-mah-e adabiyat (2010), pp.105–07; A. Samii-Gilani, ‘Sabeghe-ye Farhangestan dar Iran’ [A history of Academy in Iran], Nameh Farhangestan (1995), pp.136–43.
8 J. Qajar, Name-ye Khosrowan [The Book of Sovereigns] (Tehran: Pazineh, 2019).
9 A. Kermani, Ayeneh-ye Sekandari [Alexander's mirror] (Tehran, 1906). https://www.karaketab.com/download/philosophy/5604-dl-3maktoob.
10 H. Ahmadi, ‘Hoviat-e melli dar gostareh tarikh-e Iran’ [National Identity Throughout Iran’s History], Faslnameh Motaleat Melli, Vol.15, No.1 (2005), pp.33–34.
11 A. Ashraf, ‘Hoviyate-e Irani beh seh ravayat’ [Three narratives about Iranian identity], Bokhara, Issue 63 (2008), p.112.
12 F. Akhundzadeh, Maktubat Kamal-Al-Dowleh [Kamal-Al-Dowleh’s writings] edited by A. Haghdar (Tehran: Bashgah Adabiyat, 2016).
13 F. Adamiyat, ‘Ideology Nehzat Mashrooteh Iran’ [The ideology of Iran’s constitutional movement], Vol.1, Payam, (1976). See also T. Ghaderi, ‘Nasionalism dar sadeh nouzdahom’ [Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century] Motaleateh Jameeh Shenakhti Vol.18, No.39 (2012), pp.69–103.
14 M. Ajoudani, Mashrooteh-ye Irani [Iranian Constitution] (Tehran: Akhtaran, 1997), p.51.
15 M. Bayat-Philipp, ‘Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani: A Nineteenth Century Persian Nationalist’, in Elie Kedourie and Sylvia G. Haim (eds), Towards a Modern Iran Studies in Thought, Politics and Society (London: Routledge, 1980), pp.64–96; F. Adamiyat, Andishe hayeh Mirza Agha Khan Kermani (Tehran: Payam, 1979) pp.265–76; M. Madadpour, Seir-e Taffakor-e Moaser; tajadod va din zodaii dar andishe-ha-ye Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh [The Course of Contemporary Thoughts, Modernization and Secularization in Mirza Fathli Akhundzadeh's Views] (Tehran: Tarbiat Publishing, 1993).
16 M.Vaziri, Iran as Imagined Nation (New York: Paragon House, 1993), p.5.
17 R. Zia-Ebrahimi, ‘The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism: Race and the Politics of Dislocation’ (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016), pp.5–7.
18 F. Kashani-Sabet, ‘Fragile Frontiers: The Diminishing Domains of Qajar Iran’, International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.29, No.2 (1997), pp.205–07.
19 F. Kashani-Sabet, ‘The Frontier Phenomenon: Perceptions of the Land in Iranian Nationalism’, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies Vol 6, No.10 (1997), pp.20, 37.
20 A. Amanat, ‘Iranian Identity Boundaries: A Historical Overview’ in Amanat and Vejdani (eds), Iran Facing Others: Identity Boundaries in a Historical Perspective (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), pp.1–36.
21 A. Smith, Ethno-symbolism, and Nationalism: A Cultural Approach (London: Routledge, 2009), p.29.
22 H. Katouzian, The Political Economy of Modern Iran (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1981), p.123; J. Foran, Fragile Resistance: Social Transformation in Iran from 1500 To the Revolution (Boulder: Westview Press, 1992), p.226; F. Kashani-Sabet, ‘Cultures of Iranianness: The Evolving Polemics of Iranian Nationalism’ in Nikki R. Keddie and Rudi Matthee (eds), Iran and the Surrounding World: Interactions in Culture and Cultural Politics (Washington: University of Washington Press, 2002), p.173; T. Atabaki, ‘Ethnic Diversity and Territorial Integrity of Iran: Domestic Harmony and Regional Challenges’, Iranian Studies Vol.38, No.1 (2005), p.32.
23 Karim Soleimani, ‘Press Censorship in the Reza Shah Era, 1925–41’, in Christoph Werner (ed.), Culture and Cultural Politics under Reza Shah: The Pahlavi State, New Bourgeoisie and the Creation of a Modern Society in Iran (London: Routledge, 2013), pp.181–99; Christoph Werner, ‘Drama and Operetta at the Lion and Sun’, in Christoph Werner (ed.), Culture and Cultural Politics under Reza Shah: The Pahlavi State, New Bourgeoisie and the Creation of a Modern Society in Iran Christoph Werner (London: Routledge, 2013), pp.201–32.
24 M. Delfani, Farhang Setizi dar dowreh Reza Shah [Anti-culture during the period of Reza Shah] (Tehran: National Documents Organization of Iran, 1996).
25 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar jostari bar sazman ha’, pp.70–94.
26 B. Darbeiki, Sazman-e- parvaresh-e-afkar [Thought Development Organization] (Tehran: Islamic Revolution Documentation Center Publications, 2003)
27 B. Darbeiki, ‘Sazman-e- parvaresh-e-afkar jostari bar sazman ha’, p.183.
28 A. Mesgar, ‘Nahad ha-ye hoviat-saz dar dowreh Pahlavi-ye avval’ [Identity-making institutions in the first Pahlavi period: Thought Development Organization], Payam Baharestan, Vol.1, No.3 (2009), pp.535–40.
29 M. Askarani, ‘Taʾsis-e sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar dar Isfahan’ [Establishment of the Thought Development Organization in Isfahan], Fasl nameh-ye Amuzeh, No.16 (2002), pp.38–47.
30 M. Moradi-Khalaj and K. Haghighi, ‘Barresi-ye ravabet-e sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar va comision-e Radio’ [A Review on the Relations between the Organization for Development of Thoughts and the Radio Commission (1938-1941)], Pazhuhesh ha-ye Olum-e Tarikhi, Vol.11, No.1 (2019), pp.201–05: https://doi.org/10.22059/jhss.2019.257132.472983.
31 M. Moradi-Khalaj and K. Haghighi, p.196.
32 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman Sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar jostari bar sazman ha’, p.72; the same list can be found in Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh Afkar va majmuʿeh nakhostin reshteh sokhanrani ha-ye parvaresh afkar [A collection of regulations of the Thought Development Organization and a collection of the first series of lectures on thought development] (Tehran: Dabirkhaneh Sazman Parvaresh Afkar, 1939), p.4.
33 B. Darbeiki, Sazman-e- Parvaresh-e-Afkar, p.166.
34 Foad Pooraryan and Azar Ardianian, ‘Tʾasir-e Siasat ha-ye Dowlat ha bar Taghiir Budjeh-ye ,Vezarat-e Maʿaref’ [The Impacts of Governments’ Financial Policy on Changes in the Budget of the Ministry of Education During the Time of Pahlavi I], Pazhouhesh ha-ye Oluom-e Tarikhi Vol.14, No. 1 (2022), pp.35–52: https://doi.org/10.22059/jhss.2022.345910.473580.
35 B. Darbeiki, Sazman-e- Parvaresh-e-Afkar, p.165.
36 Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh Afkar va majmuʿeh nakhostin reshteh sokhanrani ha-ye parvaresh afkar, p.10.
37 Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh Afkar, p.10.
38 Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh Afkar, p.11.
39 Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh Afkar, p.11.
40 B. Darbeiki, Sazman-e- Parvaresh-e-Afkar, p.137.
41 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar jostari bar sazman ha’, p.73; B. Darbeiki, Sazman-e- Parvaresh-e-Afkar, p.172.
42 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar jostari bar sazman ha’, p.73.
43 Ibid., p.75.
44 Ibid., p.76.
45 Ibid., p.77.
46 Ibid., p.74
47 Ibid., p.75.
48 J. Naebian and M. Gholizadeh, ‘Naghsh-e- siasat-ha-ye farhangi-ye-dowreh-Reza Shah dar vazʿiat-e-amuzesh va parvaresh-e- Tabriz’ [The role of cultural policies of Reza Shah period in the situation of education in Tabriz]. Jostar Ha-Ye Tarikhi, Vol.1, No.2 (2010), pp.95–118.
49 J. Naebian and M. Gholizadeh, ‘Naghsh-e- siasat-ha-ye farhangi’, p.102.
50 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar jostari bar sazman ha’, p.74.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 Ibid.
54 Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh, p.5.
55 A. Mesgar, ‘Nahad ha-ye hoviat-saz dar dowreh Pahlavi-ye avval’ [Identity-making institutions in the first Pahlavi period: Thought Development Organization], Payam Baharestan, Vol.1, No3 (2009), pp.535–40; B. Darbeiki, Sazman-e- Parvaresh-e-Afkar, p.168.
56 The statistics were adapted from Darbeiki, p.262.
57 Majmuʿeh sokhanrani ha va ahang ha va sorood ha va namayesh-nameh ha az Aban 1318-Khordad 1319 dar Talar dabirestan Dar-ol-fonun [A collection of Thought Development Organization lectures, songs, and plays, from November 1939-June 1940 at Dar-ol-fonun’s lecture hall] (Tehran: Dabirkhaneh Sazman Parvaresh Afkar, 1940), pp.1–11
58 Majmuʿeh sokhanrani ha va ahang ha va sorood ha, pp.275–283
59 Majmuʿeh Aiin nameh ha-ye Sazman Parvaresh Afkar, p.28.
60 Majmuʿeh sokhanrani ha, p.29.
61 Ibid., p.30.
62 Ibid., p.30.
63 Ibid., p.30.
64 Ibid., pp.32–35.
65 Ibid., p.49
66 Ibid., p.50.
67 E. Renan, Qu’est-ce qu’une nation? [What is a Nation?] (Paris: Presses-Pocket, 1992), (translated by Ethan Rundell), http://ucparis.fr/files/9313/6549/9943/What_is_a_Nation.pdf.
68 Majm uʿeh sokhanrani ha, p.55
69 Ibid.
70 Ibid., p.75.
71 Ibid., p.86.
72 M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e Parvaresh-e Afkar jostari bar’, p.82.
73 S. Shafa, Etelaati dar bareh showra-ye Farhangi-ye saltanati-ye Iran [Information about the Royal Cultural Council of Iran and its ten-year activities – from 1962 to 1972] (Tehran: Dabirkhanneh-ye Showra-ye Farhangi-ye Salṭanati-Iran, 1971), p.9. https://ketabnak.com/reader/105791.
74 S. Shafa, Etelaati dar bareh showra-ye Farhangi-ye saltanati, p.12
75 Ibid., p.8
76 A. Ashraf, ‘The Crisis of National and Ethnic Identities in Contemporary Iran’, Iranian Studies Vol. 26, No.(1/2), 1993, p.160.
77 A. Kani, 1953, as cited in M. Delfani, ‘Sazman-e Parvaresh-e Afkar’, p.71.
78 A. Ashraf-Nazari, ‘Nasionalism va hoviat-e- Irani:motaleʿeh moredi-ye dowreh Pahlavi’ [Iranian Nationalism and Identity: A Case Study of the First Pahlavi Period], Pazhuhesh-e hoghoogh va Siasat, Vol.9, No.22 (2007), pp.141–72; A. Deylami-Moezi, ‘Hoviat sazi-ye melli dar asr-e Reza Shah: Raveshha va abzar ha’ [National Identity-Building in the Age of Reza Shah: Methods and Tools], Pazhuhesh-Ha-Yeh Tarikhi, Vol.3, No.10 (2008), pp.21–40; F. Dilmoghani, and M. Ghasemi-Torki, ‘Jaygaheh Hoviat-e- melli dar Iran: negahi beh tatavor-e- tarikhi, olguha va siasat ha-ye-hoviyat-e melli’ [National identity in Iran: A look at the historical evolution, patterns, and policies of national identity], Pazhuhesh-ha-yeh Tarikhi, Vol.13, No.52 (2018), pp.17–44.
79 The following articles generally express the view that all of Reza Shah’s cultural programmes were to serve his political aims, not to benefit society: Ghasemi and Faraji, ‘Tahlil-e enteghadi-ye siasat ha-ye farhangi-ye Pahlavi-ye avval bar asas-e nazarieh padidar shenakhti-ye farhang:nemooneh pazhuhi sazman-e parvaresh-e afkar’ [A Critical analysis of the first Pahlavi cultural policies based on the phenomenological theory of culture], Journal of Iranian Political Sociology Vol.4, No.1 (2021), pp.258–76: https://doi.org/10.30510/PSI.2021.228855.1148; M. Salmasizadeh, M., Ghadimi-Gheydari, A. Dehghani and B. Parvan, ‘Sazman-e- Parvaresh-e-afkar va talash barayeh taghir-e-sabk-e-zendegi-ye-javanan dar asr-e-Reza Shah-e-Pahlavi’ [The Thought Development Organization and changing the lifestyle of young people in the era of Reza Shah Pahlavi], Islamic Revolution Studies Vol.16, No. 56, (2016), pp.59–72; A. Mesgar, ‘Nahad ha-ye hoviat-saz dar dowreh Pahlavi-ye avval’ [Identity-making institutions in the first Pahlavi period: Thought Development Organization], Payam Baharestan Vol.1, No. 3 (2009), pp.535–40.