Recommended Works: Class Struggle in Iran

Peykar 

Many of these texts come from various former Marxist organizations that were active in pre-1979 revolutionary ferment or from academic studies on the capitalist mode of production in Iran. These texts may be opinionated--in no means does Ebookcollective share or affiliate with any particular political organization.

So here are some works you MUST read (from all parties, sects, etc.)  (ebook provided--all are pdfs unless provided with the format)

Books/Essays (Academia)

1. Assef Bayat, Workers and Revolution in Iran 

2. Ervand Abrahamian, Iran Between Two Revolutions 

3. Ervand Abrahamian, A History of Modern Iran

4. Ervand Abrahamian, Structural Causes of the Iranian Revolution

5. Andreas Malm, Shora Esmailian, Iran on the Brink Rising Workers and Threats of War  (2007) 

6. Arjomand,  A Demographic Theory of Revolution - Or, Sociology as Sorcery

7. Arjomand,  The Causes and Significance of the Iranian Revolution

8. Arjomand, Religion and Ideology in the Constitutional Revolution

9. Arjomand - The Law, Agency, and Policy in Medieval Islamic Society - Development of the Insitutions of Learning from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century

10. Asef Bayat, A Women's Non-movement: What it means to be a woman activist in an Islamic state.

11. Asef Bayat, Street Politics: Poor People's Movements in Iran

12. Mir-Hosseini - Impact of Wage Labour on Household Fission in Rural Iran

13. Mir-Hosseini,  Some Aspects of Changing Economy in Rural Iran - The Case of Kalardasht

14. Moaddel, Class Struggle in Post-Revolutionary Iran

15. Moaddel, Shi'i Political Discourse and Class Mobilization in the Tobacco Movement of 1890-1892

16. Moaddel - State-Centered vs Class-Centered Perspectives on International Politics

17. Moghadam - Industrial Development, Culture and Working-Class Politics - A Case Study of Tabriz Industrial Workers in the Iranian Revolution

18. Moghadam - Socialism or Anti-Imperialism - The Left and Revolution in Iran

19. Moghadam - Women, Work, and Ideology in the Islamic Republic

20. Moghadam and Ashtiani - The Left and Revolution in Iran

21. Zachary Lockman, Workers and working classes in the Middle East (epub)

Cherik Fadais (چريک‌های فدایی خلق ایران) 

(Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas)

1. Armed Struggle; both a Strategy and a Tactic — by Massoud Ahmad-Zadeh

2. Remarks on the Question of the Organization of the Working Class in Iran

3. The Spread of a Misogynist Culture, the Means to Further Serve the Exploitation of Workers-- Ashraf Dehghani

4. Torture and Resistance In Iran (Hemaseyeh Moghavemat)-- Ashraf Dehghani (pt. 1) (pt. 2)

Peykar (پيکار) 

1. In which direction is our society going?

Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) (سربداران)
1. Islam: Ideology and Tool of the Exploiting Classes by Nasrin Jazayeri 

Tudeh Party of Iran (نامه مردم)
1. Brief History of The Tudeh Party of Iran

Unity of Communist Militants (Ettehade Mobarezane Komonist)

1. Anarcho-Pacifism: Peykar with the Wooden Sword!

Gilbert Achcar, The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives

Gilbert Achcar, The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives

Formats Available

.EPUB

An unprecedented and judicious examination of what the Holocaust means—and doesn't mean—in the Arab world, one of the most explosive subjects of our time. There is no more inflammatory topic than the Arabs and the Holocaust—the phrase alone can occasion outrage. The terrain is dense with ugly claims and counterclaims: one side is charged with Holocaust denial, the other with exploiting a tragedy while denying the tragedies of others. In this pathbreaking book, political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores these conflicting narratives and considers their role in today's Middle East dispute. He analyzes the various Arab responses to Nazism, from the earliest intimations of the genocide, through the creation of Israel and the destruction of Palestine and up to our own time, critically assessing the political and historical context for these responses. Finally, he challenges distortions of the historical record, while making no concessions to anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial. Valid criticism of the other, Achcar insists, must go hand in hand with criticism of oneself.Drawing on previously unseen sources in multiple languages, Achcar offers a unique mapping of the Arab world, in the process defusing an international propaganda war that has become a major stumbling block in the path of Arab-Western understanding. 

Radwan Ziadeh, Power and Policy in Syria: Intelligence Services, Foreign Relations and Democracy in the Modern Middle East

Radwan Ziadeh, Power and Policy in Syria: Intelligence Services, Foreign Relations and Democracy in the Modern Middle East

Formats Available:

.PDF

In an unstable Middle East, beset by regional tensions and repercussions of the global war on terror, Syria is a key player. The bloodless coup by General Hafez al-Assad, in 1970, put in place a powerful autocratic machinery at the core of the state which continues till today under the control of his son Bashar. Here Radwan Ziadeh presents a fresh and penetrating analysis of Syria’s political structure -- a "despotic" state monopoly, a bureaucratic climate marked by fear, and the administrative structure through which centralized control is exercised. With a focus on Syria’s intelligence services which have significant influence in legal and policy decisions, and the conditions and patterns of foreign policy decision-making, particularly vis-à-vis the US, Power and Policy in Syria is essential reading for all those interested in Syria, the modern Middle East, International Relations and Security Studies.

Hesham Al-Awadi, In Pursuit of Legitimacy: The Muslim Brothers and Mubarak, 1982-2000

Hesham Al-Awadi, In Pursuit of Legitimacy: The Muslim Brothers and Mubarak, 1982-2000

Formats Available:

.PDF

Hesham Al-Awadi argues that the growing impact of the Muslim Brotherhood on Egyptian politics and society is part of the movement's struggle to gain official legitimacy since its ban in 1954. The movement's remarkable presence in syndicates, student unions, investment companies and parliament was the outcome of its highly organized structure, consolidated during the earlier years of President Mubarak. Although the Brotherhood failed to secure the recognition of the state, they did secure a degree of informal legitimacy, based on their services to middle class beneficiaries. This "social" legitimacy was soon employed politically against the regime as Mubarak, haunted by the sudden rise of Islamists in Algeria and his failure to legitimate his leadership, was impelled to revoke his policies in the nineties.

Cihan Tugal, Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism

Formats Available

PDF (LINK 1)
PDF (LINK 2)

From Stanford University Press,

"Over the last decade, pious Muslims all over the world have gone through contradictory transformations. Though public attention commonly rests on the turn toward violence, this book's stories of transformation to "moderate Islam" in a previously radical district in Istanbul exemplify another experience. 

In a shift away from distrust of the state to partial secularization, Islamists in Turkey transitioned through a process of absorption into existing power structures. With rich descriptions of life in the district of Sultanbeyli, this unique work investigates how religious activists organized, how authorities defeated them, and how the emergent pro-state Justice and Development Party incorporated them. 

As Tugal reveals, the absorption of a radical movement was not simply the foregone conclusion of an inevitable world-historical trend but an outcome of contingent struggles. With a closing comparative look at Egypt and Iran, the book situates the Turkish case in a broad historical context and discusses why Islamic politics have not been similarly integrated into secular capitalism elsewhere." 

[source] 

Minutes of the Congress of the Peoples of the East Baku (September 1920)

"The Congress of the Peoples of the East held in Baku in September, 1920 holds a special place in the history of the Communist movement. It was the first attempt to appeal to the exploited and oppressed peoples in the colonial and semi-colonial countries to carry forward their revolutionary struggles under the banner of Marxism and with the support of the workers in Russia and the advanced countries of the world." 

--Tom Kemp, Forward to the Congress of the Peoples of the East-Baku (1920)

Available in marxists.org 

PDF (Link 1)

PDF (Link 2)