Iranian thinker
Homa Katouzian
Homa KatouzianHistory and Political ScienceIranianb. 1942
Life and Thought
Mohammad Ali Homayoun Katouzian (born 1942) is an Iranian economist, historian, historical sociologist, and literary critic. He is known for theories such as the "short-term society" and his analyses of state and society in Iran.
Mohammad Ali Homayoun Katouzian, born 17 November 1942, is an Iranian economist, historian, political scientist, historical sociologist, and literary critic. In Iran, he is better known as Homayoun Katouzian, and a significant part of his work is devoted to the contemporary history of Iran, political economy, historical sociology, state and society in Iran, the National Movement, Mosaddegh, Khalil Maleki, Sadegh Hedayat, and modern Persian literature.
Katouzian was born in Tehran and, after studying at Alborz High School and spending some time at the University of Tehran, went to England to continue his education. He studied economics and then pursued his studies in sociology, history, political science, and Persian literature. He has taught at various universities and academic centers in England, Iran, Canada, and the United States, and later held a research affiliation with the University of Oxford and St Antony's College.
Katouzian's significance lies in his attempt to explain Iranian history using models not directly derived from European history. He believes that many prevailing theories in the social sciences were constructed to explain the European experience and, if generalized to Iranian history without modification, lead to misunderstanding. It is from this perspective that theories such as Iranian despotism, the arbitrary state, the short-term society, and the state-nation conflict have become prominent in his works.
One of his most famous concepts is the theory of the short-term society, or what is sometimes called the "pickaxe society." By this term, he means the instability of institutions, the weakness of historical continuity, the insecurity of property, recurrent political and cultural ruptures, and the difficulty of long-term accumulation of experience and social capital in Iranian history. This theory has had both serious proponents and critics; for instance, Seyyed Javad Tabatabai considered it more of a political statement than a historical hypothesis. Nevertheless, the concept of the short-term society remains one of Katouzian's most controversial ideas in the analysis of Iranian history.
Bibliography
Writings and transcribed lectures28 titles
The State–Nation Contradiction
International Trade
Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations
The Political Economy of Iran: From Constitutionalism to the End of the Pahlavi Dynasty
Despotism, Democracy and the National Movement
Mosaddeq and the Struggle for Power in Iran
Ideology and Method in Economics
Nine Essays on the Historical Sociology of Iran
State and Society in Iran: The Fall of the Qajar and the Establishment of the Pahlavi
The State–Nation Contradiction: A Theory of History and Politics in Iran
Iran, the Short-Term Society and Three Other Essays
Iranians: From Ancient Times to the Contemporary Period
Culture, History, Politics
The Political Memoirs of Khalil Maleki
Articles on the Memoirs of Khalil Maleki
The Clash of Maleki's Beliefs and Opinions
Letters of Khalil Maleki
Sadegh Hedayat and the Death of the Author
Sadegh Hedayat: The Life and Legend of an Iranian Writer
A Critique of Hedayat's The Blind Owl
Fourteen Essays on Literature, Society, Philosophy, and Economics
Eight Essays on Contemporary History and Literature
Jamalzadeh and His Literature
Saadi, Poet of Love and Life
Hedayat's Satire and Pseudo-Satire
A Conversation on Rationality and Modernity
Unfinished Modernization: Conversations with Homa Katouzian
Essays on Conspiracy Theory in Iran
Sedanet articles about Homa Katouzian
