İÇİNDƏKİLƏR

 

18 

second, elimination of illeteracy. It is interesting to note that Iran became an 

urban

1

 and literate

2

 society on the eve of the Islamic Revolution. With 

urbanization, individuals lose their traditional ethnic background and adapt 

themselves to an environment in which they find new forms of social 

interactions with a wider range of people. This process of integration does not 

mean the adaptation to a new urban culture, but instead the reconstruction of 

traditional culture within an urban environment.

3

 It is particularly true in Iran 

because of the Azerbaijani massive migrations towards the largest cities. In 

Tehran, Azerbaijanis who account for half of the population of the city, have 

their own neighborhoods, associations or mosques. However, in Iran, 

urbanization is by no means equivalent to Persianisation. The second aspect 

is the huge and successful effort of the Iranian State to make its population 

literate. The very high literacy rate gives access to forms of modern culture 

denied to non-Persian speakers as well as the ability to formulate ethnic 

sentiments and ethnic-based social and political demands within a rational 

speech. It contributed to ameliorate Azerbaijanis’ image of themselves, they 

no longer tolerate to be mocked.

4

  The contradictory effect of ethnic 

integration was well noted by Louis L. Snyder, when he described national 

modernization as a powerful means to centralize power, but also as a possible 

desintegrating factor in a multicultural society. 

5

Therefore, we may say that 

modernization has destroyed ethnic groups 

as a traditional and powerful political actor on the Iranian scene

. However, 

this does not mean the end of a multiethnic Iran as some claimed. Instead, it 

is compulsory to reconsider the role played by ethnic groups in Iran who, 

through restructured ethnic identities, have evolved into new social 

movements, whose significance should increase over the coming years.  

   If we look at the Azerbaijanis, we can trace a revival of ethnic identity 

back to the time of the Islamic Revolution: the creation of Varliq journal is 

the best example of this. But, because of the war and the difficult socio-

                                                 

1

 It means more than 50% of the population lives in town. 

2

 It means more than 50% of the population is literate. 

3

 About the reconstruction of traditionnal culture within an urban environment, see William 

Isaac Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, Dover 

Publications, New York, 1958 and Martin Bulmer, The Chicago School of Sociology, 

Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1984. 

4

 Brenda Shaffer, Borders and Brethren, Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity,op. 

cit.,  pp. 178-179. 

5

 Louis L. Snyder, Contemporary Nationalisms: Intensity and Persistence, Krieger, Malabar, 

Flo, 1992, pp. 3-10. 

 

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19 

economic conditions of the 80’s, this rebirth was delayed and began to take 

hold around 1988-1989. At that time, many Azerbaijani intellectuals wanted 

to rediscover their own culture and their own language by publishing 

Azerbaijani language dictionaries, Azerbaijani grammar books and 

ethnological studies about the way of life in Iranian Azerbaijan.

1

 This cultural 

renewal quickly led to the expression of ethnic-based political and social 

demands regarding the status of the Azerbaijani language in Iran. By asking 

for the right to broadcast or for an extension of the right to publish in the 

Azerbaijani language, ethnic cultural activists invested in the political field. 

To rally for support among Azerbaijanis, those intellectuals need to create or 

recreate an ethnic identity that has integrated the tremendous changes faced 

by the Iranian society with what Anthony D. Smith called a “set of myths and 

symbols.”

2

  This ethnic identity is different from the traditional one, it refers 

to new elements gradually integrated in the Azerbaijani national history.  

The Babak rally, that takes place every year in Kaleybar, is a very 

interesting example of this phenomenon. Forty years ago, if an Azerbaijani 

was asked  what he was thinking of Babak, his answer would be a different 

answer than today. At that time, Babak was not the specific hero of the 

Azerbaijani national history, as he has become today. He is now the symbol 

of Azerbaijanis’ struggle for revival of national identity. This kind of hero 

serves as a focal point of comparison with the present, and with the 

Signficant Other

3

, within the framework of an evolutionnary reconstruction 

of ethnic history. This attempt to promote Azerbaijani identity contributes to 

the affirmation of pluralism in Iran, a pluralism that is deeply rooted, though 

slow in the unveiling of its political manifestation.     

  At an epistemological level, these evolutions lead us to consider 

today’s ethnic movements, and particularly the Azerbaijani one, as an 

example of the multiple social movements taking place in Iran. Social 

movements are entities defined by their relations with the State. As entities 

defined by their action, they become fluid in their ability to adopt and change 

their ideology and strategy, in accordance with the nature of their relationship 

with the State. Found within the cleavages that develop between shifting 

State centers and peripheries, they are born of struggle and conflict and must, 

therefore, be viewed in terms of their dynamic nature. This point leads us to 

                                                 

1

 Scientific works about this renewed literary revival were recently carried out. Brenda 

Shaffer, Borders and Brethren, Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity,op. cit., pp. 

169-174 and Sonel Bosnali "Le patrimoine linguistique et littéraire des Azéris d'Iran", 

thèse INALCO, 2003. 

2

 Anthony D. Smith, State and Nation in The Third World,, ST Martin’s Press, New York, 

1983, p. 132. 

3

 Anthony D. Smith, The Ethnic Origins of Nations, Blackwell, Oxford, 1986, p. 200. 

 

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