Building the Nation: Iran’s Nationalism and Revolution as a Liberation Movement

Known as Islamic, Iran’s revolution of 1979 can also be understood as a key moment in the long process of modern nation building. It represented the culmination of Iran’s independence movement. In this framework, Iran’s nationalism and revolution would be better interpreted also as a liberation movement. Iran’s revolution aimed at and ushered in the establishment of new social, political, and economic structures and relations to meet the needs of its people based on the principles of justice and of an equitable distribution of the national wealth. The slogan of the revolution was “independence, freedom, Islamic republic.” Although the new political order fell short in terms of civil and human rights, the Islamic Republic also represents the first time in Iran’s contemporary history when the Iranians became full owners of their country, its resources and destiny. Based on a revaluation of both primary sources and critical literature, this paper revisits the role of nationalism in twentieth century in Iran, in particular in and around the so-called "global sixties", as a liberation movement from the oppressive bonds of foreign interference and towards, on the one hand, the establishment of more equal relations with other peoples and nations and, on the other hand, the elaboration of a new social, political, and economic order.