The Islamization of the Social Movements and the Revolution, 1963–1979

Abstract

This chapter confronts the Islamization of the political and social movements in the Iran of 1979, despite the presence of a relatively strong and modern secular component. Why did the revolution take an Islamic turn? I examine the Islamization of the revolution as an open-ended process rather than as an outcome of the hegemony of Shi’i culture in Iran or as the political response of traditional forces of society, represented by the ulama, against the modernizing Pahlavi regime. I argue that the Islamization of the political and social movements throughout this period was the result of political processes. I show that Khomeini’s radical political leadership, unwavering since his entry onto the national scene in 1962, was critical in politicizing the environment (including that of the religious establishment) and promoting the formation of a national identity around Islamic ideology during the revolutionary period.