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Contrary to the economic, political or cultural elements necessary for a revolution as described in conventional theories of revolution by scholars such as Skocpol and Marx, the Iranian Revolution occurred in 1979. It is argued that essential reasons for the occurrence of a revolution include defeat at war, peasant rebellion, gigantic national debt or disgruntled military. Absence of these reasons made the Iranian of 1979 a shock to the world. This paper therefore seeks to provide answer to the key question of why the Iranian revolution was a surprise to all existing theories of revolution? To do so, this paper critically examines Marx’s and Skocpol’s theories of revolution with regard to the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and discusses the shortcomings of these theories in explaining the Iranian Revolution. The paper will also argue why the Iranian revolution cannot fit the above-mentioned theories. This paper will also examine Max Weber’s notion of charisma in relation to Ayatollah Khomeini - the leader of the Iranian Revolution.
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In-Text Citation: (Khelghat-Doost, 2020)
To Cite this Article: Khelghat-Doost, H. (2020). The Iranian Revolution of 1979: Confronting Theories of Revolution and Charisma. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(4), 527–538.
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