Iran’s Civic Movement One Year On

Those who possess political power in Iran have acquired it relatively recently and are still intoxicated with the taste of power. For this reason, they will be persistent in maintaining their position of power and will not give in to the demands of the civic movement overnight. Yet Iran’s civic movement is even more resilient because it knows that the social structure and political discourse inside Iran and the global attitude have changed in its favor. Since the present movement in Iran is civic and not revolutionary in nature, it can show those in the regime who have remained relatively honorable and reasonable, especially among the rank and file, that by participating in the democratic process they can receive their legitimate share of power in a free country.

One year after the Iranian people’s great civic movement for freedom and democracy was born, there remain very important questions. First, does this movement possess adequate vigor and stability to achieve its goals?  There is no doubt that Iran’s civic initiative, the Green Movement, has proved itself to be enduring.  In the first few months after the fraudulent Presidential election, when the regime was not completely aware of the extent of the people’s outrage, the participation of large numbers of Iranians in Tehran and other large cities clearly demonstrated the popular sentiments for change that were documented by the participants and shared globally.  A few months later, however, the street demonstrations diminished noticeably because of the regime’s use of brutal military and security forces to suppress and intimidate the Green activists.  Yet, these barbaric acts by the regime have only made the Iranian people more determined than before to achieve their democratic goals.  The reason for this solid determination is that the movement for democracy has deep roots in the collective psyche of the Iranian people, dating back over 150 years.

During the past one and a half centuries, the foundations of modern civilization have been laid in Iran:  large segments of society, who used to be passive and immobile, now possess agency and are highly mobile and pro-active in the political, social, and economic fields.  Paradoxically, the Islamic Revolution and the eight years of devastating war with Iraq expedited the process of transforming the Iranian people into mobile agents by encouraging them to participate in the political, social, military, and to some extent economic affairs of their country.  An individual with a sense of agency considers him/herself to be a right-bearing citizen who would resist any attempt at encroachment upon his or her rights.  As such, the civic movement of the Iranian people will not be put out, even though it may look more like ember burning under ashes for a while.  For this reason, it is incumbent upon all Iranians, especially those who live outside Iran, to demonstrate to all peoples around the world that Iran’s civic movement has deep roots in the country’s history and will bear fruit in the not too distant future.  The best evidence that the Green Movement is very much alive is that after the attack by Israeli forces on the aid flotilla for the people of Gaza, the Iranian regime has not called for any popular demonstration lest it be overtaken by the opposition. 

The second question pertains to the leadership of the civic movement in Iran.  In fact, there is more than one question in this regard.  Most importantly, can a civic movement achieve its democratic goals without a single charismatic leader?  This question would best be answered by examining the nature of the current movement in Iran.  The Green Movement is not a revolutionary uprising that requires a dominant and charismatic leader.  The contemporary socio-political movement in Iran is more concerned with securing the trampled rights of individuals who, as a result of developing a sense of agency, are mature enough to assume the role of partial leaders.  These individuals contribute to the formation of a collective will of the movement and determine its general goals through the collective rationality of the group.  The Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1960s did have charismatic leaders, but there were many individuals who participated in the leadership of the movement.  Yet, one should not forget that in the U.S. at that time, democratic institutions were much stronger than those in cotemporary Iran and the conditions for a civic movement in Iran are now different from those of America in the mid-twentieth century.  For this reason, it should be remembered that each civic movement needs its own specific organization and in order to achieve its demands rapidly, the Green Movement should address the issue of its organization more seriously and find a solution for it through the process of collective reasoning.

Another very important question is that of the movement’s communication network and its technological dimension. In order to be successful, every movement, be it revolutionary or civic, needs an efficient and orderly communication network and related communication technologies.  The existing social networks in Iran either do not belong to the Green Movement or are under tremendous pressure by the regime.  The Mosque network is still the most powerful social network in Iran, but is mostly controlled by the regime to achieve its own goals. However, this enormous and resourceful social network should not be dismissed altogether.  There are niches in the Mosque network that display some sympathy toward the Green Movement and can be relied upon. Iranian universities also function as a vast and efficient social network in the country.  In the past few years,  universities have developed and grown in number, and they now constitute a large communication network that reaches some of the most remote parts of the country.  It is true that universities, because of their intellectual-scientific mission, sometimes distance themselves from the people. This is not only inevitable, but also to some degree desirable.  However, this scientific-intellectual distance from the people should not be translated into social and political isolation from the masses.  In fact, the academia in Iran, because of its cultural and technological resources, is well-equipped to expand the socio-political network and bring different strata together while counseling them to reach their democratic aspirations.

It cannot be denied that there are relatively advanced communication technologies in Iran and the participants in the Green Movement have made the best use of them so far.  Yet the regime has also been very busy attempting to obstruct these technologies by heavily investing in advanced counter-technologies, although it has not been able to completely stop the movement’s communication. Foreign governments can play a crucial role in this process.  Instead of imposing heavy economic sanctions on Iran, which could irrevocably hurt Iranians of different social classes, Western governments could impose sanctions on those companies that provide the hacking and jamming technologies to the Iranian regime.  More positively, Western governments could provide communication technologies to the Iranian people such as satellite internet access if they wish to help the civic movement of Iran. 

Yet another very important question is the relation between the Green Movement and other social movements in Iran, such as the women’s movement and workers’ movement. They both have either an organic relationship with the civic movement or have the potential for such an organic relationship to form.  Yet, it should not be forgotten that the women’s and workers’ movements are at the same time independent movements, whose goals, while not incongruent with those of the Green Movement, have a specific nature that should not be neglected or marginalized.  Due to the extra pressure exerted on women in Iran, Iranian women constitute a principle part of the civic movement and have specific demands that should receive special priority.  The workers’ movement and their rightful economic demands are not only compatible with the goals of the Green Movement, but complement the more political demands of the middle class.  The workers and the middle class can achieve mutual happiness, and that of the country, by striving to attain political and economic rights simultaneously.   

Those who possess political power in Iran have acquired it relatively recently and are still intoxicated with the taste of power.  For this reason, they will be persistent in maintaining their position of power and will not give in to the demands of the civic movement overnight.  Yet Iran’s civic movement is even more resilient because it knows that the social structure and political discourse inside Iran and the global attitude have changed in its favor.  Since the present movement in Iran is civic and not revolutionary in nature, it can show those in the regime who have remained relatively honorable and reasonable, especially among the rank and file, that by participating in the democratic process they can receive their legitimate share of power in a free country.