Association of Senior Anthropologists

Invited - Oral Presentation Session

After the Revolution: Illumination from Revisits to Aliabad, Iran

Presenter(s)

• 

  Mary Hegland

  Santa Clara University

After an initial 18 months of fieldwork in Iran, before, during and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, I have been able to return quite a few times—the last trip in May of 2018--and have found dramatic transformations. In 1978-79, Aliabad was an agricultural and trading village but has now become a town and suburb and formally incorporated into Shiraz. The majority of people who were so excited about the Revolution and dedicated to it have become disillusioned and discouraged. Feeling rather hopeless about their future, young men are not finding jobs at the levels they want, and young people especially would like to leave the country.

Revisits to Aliabad during the 21^st century have been crucial to better understanding social, cultural, and religious change and also coming to a better understanding of dynamics during the 1978-1979 fieldwork in Aliabad. Revisits have shed light on: 1. The process of disillusionment and decline in fervor after a revolution; 2. More about the motivations and actions of political actors during the revolutionary process; 3. Unintended results of revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran policies; 4.Other changes perhaps not directly resulting from the Revolution; 5. The spread of revolutionary, anti-hierarchical attitudes to areas other than political; 6. The significance of other topical areas regarding  people, culture and society not perceived during the initial fieldwork. Revisits help avoid a snapshot-made-permanent perspective and presented in publications resulting from one-time fieldwork and enable a continuing story and deeper grasp of culture and social dynamics.