The Emergence and Development of Technocracy Discourse in the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's state

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in Iranian History, Islamic period, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran, Iran

2 shahid beheshti university, Tehran. Iran

3 History Department, Faulty of letter and Human Sciences Eslamic Azad University, Tehran markazi, Tehran, IRAN

10.22034/jiiph.2025.63780.2538

Abstract

The first serious confrontation of Iranians with the industrial achievements of the West occurred during the Iran-Russia wars, then, efforts began to understand the intellectual foundations of achieving these achievements in Iran. However, this effort did not lead to Iranians being familiar with the concept of technocracy; it was proposed in the 19th century and became a dominant discourse among Western sociologists in the 20th century, it spoke of the need to delegate managerial authority to technical experts; while in Iran, not only was there no necessary intellectual basis for delegating authority to such forces, but the state’s role was becoming increasingly prominent to industrialize the country.
However, according to the historical sources, this discourse reached Iran during the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's rule through the activities of graduates of technical disciplines in the West, and was then accepted in the early decades of 1950s and 1960s. A descriptive-analytical method was used to seek how this discourse was raised and why it was accepted at these times. According to documents and library resources, in the first stage, technocrats entered the Mossadegh government through party/political activities; the government sought to confront the oil sanctions by accepting their managerial thoughts. In the second stage, technocrat forces once again succeeded in obtaining managerial positions through party activities and following foreign forces (America); the monarchy benefited from their presence to overcome the economic recession and preserve the monarchy’s survival.

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Journal of Iranian Islamic Period History

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 15 April 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 12 January 2025
  • Revise Date: 12 March 2025
  • Accept Date: 15 April 2025

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