Images of Modernization in the Works of the Ideologists of the Islamic Revolution

Abstract

The article examines the works of Iranian public and political figures, whose views had a decisive impact on the formation of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution of 1978–1979. The revolution in Iran caused a wide international response and attracted the attention of many researchers. Nevertheless, the relationship between religious and secular forces, the ideological and political orientationoftheparticipantsintherevolution and its significance for the subsequent development of Iran and the countries of the Islamic world remain the subject of polemic, which is especially acute due to the ongoing conflict between the political regime of modern Iran and opposition groups. Decades earlier, a contradiction line between Iran’s political forces was based on the issue of modernization. Why did this issue turn out to be key to the political process? What attitude towards modernization was formulated by the theorists of the Islamic revolution? What is the connection between the anti-colonial agenda of the revolution and the views of its ideologues on modernization? The purpose of the paper is to answer these questions. The description of the concepts of the ideologists of the Islamic revolution and the comparative analysis provided in the article allow us to answer the questions posed and form an image of the main religious and political discourses of the Islamic revolution. This idea is a prerequisite for a comprehensive assessment of the ideological and theoretical basis of the Islamic Revolution, which should be taken into account in the context of researches of the last decades of Iranian history and political processes in Islamic countries.