Customer Reviews

Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance, and New Movements for Rights

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I am a twenty-five year old Iranian who recently migrated to the United States. I am delighted that someone chose to tell the story of my life and those of my generation. This book describes the emergence of a peaceful movement for freedom in Iran. It is a truthful account of the sufferings and of the Iranians, their aspirations, and how they respond to the government and its dictatorship. I congratulate the author, Behzad Yaghamaian for this excellent book.

Social Change in Iran is the rare book that combines intense personal experiences with an analytical background that enables the reader to understand those experiences in their proper context. Yaghmaian uses the stories of taxi drivers, workers and ordinary people to make the situation in Iran come alive for an American audience that may not have much of an understanding of what life is like in the Islamic Republic. The fear that ordinary Iranians feel from the threat of state violence and oppression is palpable. The passage in which Yaghmaian relates his conversations with young Iranians on an airplane - who are hoping to find freedom outside of Iran - is terrifying and unforgettable. This is a book that will draw you in and make your jaw drop when you read about the injustices suffered by the people of Iran. Given the current state of the world, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complexities of life in Iran.

This is an insightful insider's look at the reform movement that has grown rapidly in Iran over the past decade. Particular emphasis is given to the student movement. The author nicely combines rigorous academic scholarship with journalistic, first-hand accounts of the Iranian political scene. While the author is apparently a professional economist, he writes with surprising fluidity on a number of subjects. Mr. Yaghmaian does not pretend to be a dispassionate observer: he clearly detests the hardliners and Islamic fundamentalists, unsurprisingly perhaps, as he relates the story of how he and his female friend were arrested for appearing together in public. He does an excellent job of conveying the sense of fear and tension in the Islamic Republic, as he repeatedly mentions the ubiquitous "bearded men in slippers" who seem to be everywhere, armed and waiting for cowed citizens to waver in their moral righteousness. His analyses of the student protests, the print media, and the deteriorating economic situation are all highly informative. One of the few criticisms that I can make of the book is that it could have been a lot shorter. The author often reiterates the exact same points over and over again in slightly different form. Also, he sometimes gets overly sentimental when he is talking about the student protests; one honestly gets the impression that he is talking about Woodstock, as the words love, joy, happiness, and peace are used endlessly to describe the students. Also, their are LOTS of exclamation points in the text, many of them in akward places. About the only criticism I can make of the subject matter is that he does not give much attention to the women's movement, although he does refer to it indirectly in several instances. Overall, however, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the changes occurring in Iran today. This book and Robin Wright's "The Last Great Revolution" are the best places to start for those wishing to learn more about politics and society in Iran.

Iran has experienced immensely rich and diverse political and social developments during the past six years. Various analysts have precisely and frequently explained Iran's political developments. But, the country's rapid social changes have been hardly discussed. This book is the first systematic effort to capture the meaning and significance of this experience and to draw theoretical implications from it. As far as I know, there is no substitute for a social analysis as subtle, fresh, and deep as the author's analysis of social chang in Iran.

I found scholarly analysis in every chapter of the book. It is one of the nicest books on politics and social change in Iran I have read in some time. The author has spent some years in Iran and been able to create an original and powerful account of recent changes in the country. The book is a unique and seminal contribution.

Mr. Yaghmaian's book is an exellent and timely documentary about
changes in Iran's political culture and society after the
revolution without any preference or prejudious.
He has done a exellent job in exposing of the reality and pain
of the Iranian's people in dealing with their normal and most
of the time ( abnormal ) LIFE.

Social Change in Iran is a significant work on a much neglected subject, the young generation in Iran. It re-presents
the concernes, attitude and courage of young Iranians who in their daily lives encounter suppression. This book is delightful
to read, without plowing through theoretical mumbo jumbo.

People's stories are the heart and soul of this thought provacative book. The stories string together a chain of the complex issues, which have taken place in Iran over the last few years. This chain is what ties the past to tomorrow's future for the people of Iran.
Yaghmaian's personal experience lecturing on and off again at Tehran University gave him a unique perspective on the youth movement's role mobilizing social change in Iran. He was not just observing from the sidelines, but sitting smack in the middle of the action.
This book will greatly help westerners better understand Iran today.

The book is accessible, interesting, and very informative about the lives of ordinary Iranians.