Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran 
asked by radar on November 20, 2006 1:37 AM
Rebels with a Cause unearths new details and provides fresh insights into an enduring puzzle of modern Iranian political history, concluding that the Left’s demise came from a combination of Iran’s geopolitical setting, where both the Soviet and Western worlds saw advantage in the stability of Iran during the Cold War, as well as internal factors such as splits and factionalism, and--not leas--the Iranian Left’s over-enthusiastic devotion to a barren Stalinism with its poverty of philosophy and ideas. This book is based on primary and secondary Persian-language sources never before published in English.
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The political left in Iran has long played an active though not very effective role in Iranian politics, through such organizations as the Tudeh party (in the 1940s and 1950s), the Fadaiyan and Mujahidin groups (in the 1970s), or more recent Marxist splinter groups.
Behrooz chronicles the rise and fall of groups often operating in the shadows of Iranian society and analyzes the reasons for its failure to achieve lasting power. Relying on an array of Persian and English sources, his valuable book documents the revival of the left in the wake of the coup against Muhammad Mussadiq in 1953, the anti-shah movement, and the early years of the Islamic Revolution. While Soviet sources may yet shed new light on this subject, Rebels With A Cause contains an account worth reading.
Why did the left always find itself shut out of power? Behrooz provides useful insights about the internal failings: personal rivalries hampered political goals, Marxists failed to create a strong base, and leftists did not recognize that the Islamists' anti-Western orientation did not imply pro-Soviet leanings. He also points out external factors leading to their defeat: Iranians' distaste for the Tudeh's subservience to Moscow and, later, Gorbachev's reforms (which undercut the Soviet model). Generally, though, the author finds the roots of failure in the left's strategic mistakes and its being outmaneuvered by the Islamists. In other words, he pays too little attention to the larger question: Could it be that, despite the problems of uneven development of the Pahlavi regime, Marxism just did not have relevance for many Iranians? In the end, Marxism proved to be just another foreign ideology which most Iranians, even the poor, saw as unnatural and irrelevant to their needs.
Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2000
Behrooz chronicles the rise and fall of groups often operating in the shadows of Iranian society and analyzes the reasons for its failure to achieve lasting power. Relying on an array of Persian and English sources, his valuable book documents the revival of the left in the wake of the coup against Muhammad Mussadiq in 1953, the anti-shah movement, and the early years of the Islamic Revolution. While Soviet sources may yet shed new light on this subject, Rebels With A Cause contains an account worth reading.
Why did the left always find itself shut out of power? Behrooz provides useful insights about the internal failings: personal rivalries hampered political goals, Marxists failed to create a strong base, and leftists did not recognize that the Islamists' anti-Western orientation did not imply pro-Soviet leanings. He also points out external factors leading to their defeat: Iranians' distaste for the Tudeh's subservience to Moscow and, later, Gorbachev's reforms (which undercut the Soviet model). Generally, though, the author finds the roots of failure in the left's strategic mistakes and its being outmaneuvered by the Islamists. In other words, he pays too little attention to the larger question: Could it be that, despite the problems of uneven development of the Pahlavi regime, Marxism just did not have relevance for many Iranians? In the end, Marxism proved to be just another foreign ideology which most Iranians, even the poor, saw as unnatural and irrelevant to their needs.
Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2000
reviewed by reviewer on November 27, 2006 7:48 PM
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As my fellow reviewers have noted this book is poorly written. So if you're looking for a casual read this is NOT for you.
However if you are interested in modern Iranian history, and the catastrophic failure of the Leftist movement of Iran, then this book does have something to offer.
It does give a good overview of the leftist parties in Iran, how and when they where formed (interesting given many were formed by power struggles), main historical developments, notable members and interrelationships. So there is a fair amount of valuable and interesting factual information to be found.
Unfortunately the author glances over the social and political context to these developments. The book is therefore less valuable to readers not familiar with Iran's social and political history, and more valuable to those who can do the contextualizing for themselves.
In defense of the author, given the lack of quality research material on this subject there was not a lot to work with - so this must be viewed as somewhat of a pioneering work.
However if you are interested in modern Iranian history, and the catastrophic failure of the Leftist movement of Iran, then this book does have something to offer.
It does give a good overview of the leftist parties in Iran, how and when they where formed (interesting given many were formed by power struggles), main historical developments, notable members and interrelationships. So there is a fair amount of valuable and interesting factual information to be found.
Unfortunately the author glances over the social and political context to these developments. The book is therefore less valuable to readers not familiar with Iran's social and political history, and more valuable to those who can do the contextualizing for themselves.
In defense of the author, given the lack of quality research material on this subject there was not a lot to work with - so this must be viewed as somewhat of a pioneering work.
reviewed by alexis on November 28, 2006 6:12 PM
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This might be the first book on the history of Iranian leftist parties and organizations in Iran. It is well-written and informative. It is not an anti-left book neither it tries to oppose any political group. It is just a history of what happened to the left in the 20th century in Iran.
Many people in the left didn't like it because for the first time somebody gave them a mirror to look at their own face.
Many people in the left didn't like it because for the first time somebody gave them a mirror to look at their own face.
reviewed by linda on November 28, 2006 6:37 PM