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Q: Can you explain more about the New Left which has been growing since the 1990s? A: First of all, the older Left defined itself in term of the Soviet Union. The influence of the Bolshevik Revolution in Iran was quite serious. The definitions of the post-68 Left in Iran were demarcated in terms of how people viewed the Soviet Union, and later it also became about the Sino-Soviet split, and even within Maoist groups one could find four of five different -- deeply contradictory -- positions in terms of the cultural revolution and so on. Today we are seeing new formations setting up strategic demands for the Iranian working-class that are free of those ideological tags. You also see a whole generation of Iranians who did not experience 1979 and the early 1980s. I should add that the whole 1980s were intertwined with the Soviet Union and some groups supported the Islamic regime because the Soviet Union said it was imperialist and vice versa. Some of these differences became extremely violent, which had a tremendous effect in the 1980s. The generation born in the 1980s is free of that. That generation is what I would call the New Iranian Left. Many of these people were politicized in the mid to late 1990s or in the early 2000s if they are younger. Some of them are people who were associated at one time or another with the reformist Islamist movement. The failure of the Mohammad Khantami presidency, in terms of delivering tangible political changes, radicalized those of the younger generation. I remember in 1998-9 a lot of Iranian students that I spoke to, some of whom I met in Turkey, were all talking about Karl Popper. This philosopher interested them at the time because political repression in Iran had created a sense that one needed to explore the question of democracy. At this time, not just western leaders but also people in Iran, were also talking about "The End of History." The idea that the collapse of the Soviet Union was equivalent to the end of socialism. What changed that was the war. I really think that the United States by invading Iraq and Afghanistan radicalized a generation of Iranians who had become pro-democracy but then took a look at the devastation super-power democratic countries can impose on the region. This made them look at other ideologies. Suddenly people who had been previously talking about Popper were asking about Marx. They were looking for the latest discussions on Imperialism. People were asking about the economic crisis. They were talking about feudal capitalism. I am always impressed how in the middle of protesting this generation spends a great deal of time discussing and arguing. full: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/05/a-new-left-emerging.html ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
