Minorities in Modern Iran: Strategies of “Identity Struggle”

The article examines the phenomenon of the politicization of minority identities, the features and foundations of these processes in Iran. Iran is an example of a multi-component divided society that combines a wide range of different divisions. The development of Iranian society after the Islamic revolution characterizes by the set of processes of social dynamics. To assess them, an approach based on an extended interpretation of the concept of divided societies as a category of political analysis is used. The minority problem is studied from a perspective focused on understanding the practice of politicization of social divisions set by the “Islamic political system”; understanding their destabilizing potential; assessing the potential of turning these divisions into a resource for competitive struggle of political projects in the country. The current situation of ethnic, religious and confessional minorities in Iran is described by considering the context of the official identity politics implemented since 1979 and the identity politics implemented by the elites of the minority communities who are most active in upholding their “right to otherness”. The author analyses strategies and practices used by minorities to promote their interests and identities with the official Iranian national civil macro-identity and with the current conservative discourse.

Iran, minorities, politicization of identity, identity politics, ethnic, religious and confessional identity, identity conflict, divided societies