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Colonial, National and Democratic Spacing: Power and Resistance in 20th Century Iran and Kurdistan
Abstract
Contrary to the notion that political spaces are fixed and permanent, they are in fact constantly subject to change and transformation. This highlights the dynamic and evolving nature of political spaces and underscores the need for ongoing analysis and examination. The imposition of a monolithic national identity often leads to the creation of political spaces of resistance, as regional and international power dynamics play a significant role in shaping national political spaces. This is exemplified by the transformation of the fragmented, and porous political space of the Qajar empire into the territorial power of the Iranian nation-state in the 1920s. This transformation, I argue, was a result of the Great Game followed by the Great War, as well as the reaction of the national elite to the World Powers and the semi-colonization of the country. The establishment of the Iranian nation-state challenged the regional imaginary spaces sought by the World Powers before and after the First World War. At the same time, it was a result of the conflicting and alternative spaces developed by the incorporation of Iran into capitalism. With the establishment of the Iranian nation-state in 1926, the Persian national elites gained dominance in the country's political scene. This new national elite, partially formed by an anti-colonial agenda, quickly became internal colonizers and altered the political landscape of the country fundamentally. They challenged the imagined colonial spacing of the country, but their uniform national imagination of Iran was soon unsettled by subjects which they were struggling to unify into a homogeneous nation. This paper aims to examine the interplay between the formation of the national space, the regional imagination of the World Powers, and the creation of alternative political spaces which do not align with internationally recognized political borders in Iran and Kurdistan in the context of the Middle East in the twentieth century. Key Words: Political Space, Kurdistan, Iran, Colonial Powers, Nation-state, Imagined Space
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Central Asia
Sub Area
None