Collective Identities in Modern Iran: Revolutions as Historical Crystallisation Points of Categorisation, Radicalisation and Tolerance

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What kind of perceptions of tolerance and respect did individuals and groups of people struggle for in two crucial phases of modern Iran, i.e., the Constitutional Revolution of 1906–11 and the Revolution of 1978–79? The aim of my project is to use the ideas and phenomena of collective identities and self-categorisations, that is the constructions of ‘self’ and ‘other’, to elaborate these concepts. Social upheavals and the accompanying discourses that led to both revolutions and the subsequent constitutions can provide information about social and superordinate categorisations, their successes, and failures, respectively. In those times of socio-political radicalisation, political and religious or ideological accentuations as well as politically, religiously and/or ideologically conditioned and pragmatic demands for respect (i.e., recognition of equality) can be identified. Additionally, concessions to or rejections of respect and tolerance regarding ‘religious minorities’ can be detected. By drawing on the disapproval-respect model, closer attention to the inclusion/exclusion of and tolerance/intolerance towards members of ‘religious minorities’, (Azali-) Babis and Baha’is in particular, will shed new light on the alliances formed between ingroups and outgroups, the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ during the two revolutions of modern Iranian history in terms of a collective identity to be newly created. The underlying hypothesis assumes that disapproval of ‘heretics’ could be tamed by their being respected as equals regarding their liberal convictions or if they could be used as a means to an end. Even in the case of ‘religious minorities’ not recognised by Islamic law, namely Babis and Baha’is, and although this could be a case of an excessive demand for respect according to the guiding model, disapproval could still be overcome by respect for different equals and lead to tolerance. Obviously, the disapproval-respect model must work both ways, i.e., adherents of ‘religious minorities’ and/or ‘religious dissidents’ might also have shown respect towards and tolerate even those of their adversaries who did not reciprocate the kind of respect based on equality recognition of different equals.