Conference:
The Iranian Constitutional Revolution 1906-1911
30 July - 2 August 2006
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Organised by: Iran Heritage Foundation and University of Oxford
Enquiries: The Iran Heritage Foundation
5 Stanhope Gate
London W1K 1AH
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44-20-74934766
Fax: +44-20-74999293
Email: info@iranheritage.org
It is a hundred years since the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, the first event of its kind in the Middle East. The Revolution opened the way for cataclysmic change in Iran, heralding the modern era. It saw a period of unprecedented debate in a burgeoning press. It created new opportunities and opened up seemingly boundless possibilities for Iran’s future. Many different groups fought to shape the course of the Revolution, and all sections of society were ultimately to be in some way changed by it. The old order, which Naser al-Din Shah Qajar had struggled for so long to sustain, finally passed away, to be replaced by new institutions, new forms of expression, and a new social and political order.
The Constitutional Revolution was an immensely complex event, involving different parts of the country in different ways, facilitating the rise of some whilst hastening the decline of others. It was bound up with imperialism and Iran’s role as a buffer state between the British and Russian Empires, with the encroachments of the world economy, and with the introduction of modern technology. In social terms it created new opportunities for women, and influenced the evolution of minority identity. The ways Iranians saw their place in the world and remembered their past underwent a transformation. One of the earliest in the decade of revolution, 1905-1915, it had global reverberations from the Ottoman Empire to South East Asia.
The Revolution has been subject to a whole range of different interpretations, and it still raises a great many unanswered questions. Amongst them, for example, might be: What kind of a revolution was it? How far did Iranian society change as a result of the revolution, and how far did it remain the same? What precisely was the role of imperialism, particularly in the ending of the Revolution? In what ways were the ideas flooding in from Europe interpreted? How lasting were the institutions established by the revolution? What global influence did it have? How did it change the identity of Iran, and most particularly, how did it shape the country’s future? We look forward to debating these questions and many others at the Conference.
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