Processes of the State and Habitus Formation in Iran in the 19th and early 20th Centuries: The Socio- and Psychogenesis of the Constitutional Revolution in 1906

Abstract

Processes of state building in Iran have been accompanied by various breaches and discontinuities with consequences for the formation of the social habitus of a great number of Iranians. A proper understanding of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran in 1906 is only possible by the introduction of a relatively long-term perspective on such processes. In this paper, the extensive historiography on the time around the Constitutional Revolution in 1906 will be integrated in a process sociological framework to provide a broader and a more reality-congruent picture of this very important phase of the development of the Iranian state, society, and social habitus. Such a study not only serves to understand the processes of habitus and collective identity formation of a great number of Iranians in the 19th and early 20th century, but also could contribute to a better understanding of the complex present political and social development of this country.