AGRARIAN STRUCTURE UNDER ADAPTATION, REFORM, AND REVOLUTION: THE CASE OF IRAN IN A COMPARATIVE-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, MANAGEMENT, STRATIFICATION)

The agrarian structure of Iran is examined, in the light of theories of peasant revolution and a comparative historical survey of four major agrarian structures (Russia, China, Japan, and India), to see how it influenced and was affected by the adaptive changes in modern times, by the Land Reform of 1960s, and by the Islamic Revolution of 1978-85. No single factor is found to fully account for the occurrence of peasant revolutions, nor can any single theory adequately explain the Land Reform or the Islamic Revolution in Iran.;Three main stages are identified in the development of the agrarian system in Iran: adaptation, reform and revolution. The evolutionary, adaptive changes took place from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, developing certain aspects of capitalist agriculture, without reform or a revolution by the peasantry. The second stage was that of land reform from above without any real internal pressure from the peasantry, the bourgeoisie, or the proletariat, and due primarily to pressure from the United States Government. It eliminated the old landowning class, expanded family smallholding, expanded capitalist extensive agriculture, and eroded the social and political bases of the state. The third stage was the Islamic Revolution, characterized by the absence of peasant participation, instigation by the radical left, the vigorous resistance in some areas by the landowning classes and the clerics, and the establishment and adoption of a conservative strategy.;The methodology of the present work is that of comparative historical analysis of changes in the agrarian systems of Russia, China, Japan, and India. An "historical-situational-structural" approach is derived, which reveals that there are certain structural forces within the historical and situational context which influence the modes of agrarian change: (1) the internal and external standing of the state as a semi-autonomous entity, (2) the agrarian class structure and the village communal arrangement, and their relation to the larger structure of power, (3) the organization of production (types of enterprise and organization of work), and (4) the land tenure system comprised of the various types and legal forms of ownership and possession.