In a revolution, an uprising, or the emergence of a new regime, new actors also take their place as a new political, and sometimes social, order is institutionalized. From the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which led to the downfall of the Shah of Iran, it has often been noted that ordinary people took on leadership roles. Many studies have also delved into how individuals subjectivize themselves during a revolutionary episode, and where the revolution positions these protagonists. A significant portion of research on revolutions, whether in history, political science, or even political anthropology, revolves around reflecting on the experiences of those who live through revolutionary times.
In the 2010s, a new concept emerged to refine the sociological analysis of revolutions, developed by three researchers working on Syria between 2011 and 2014. Moving beyond the mere “militant capital” developed a decade prior, Frederic Matonti and Franck Poupeau, along with another researcher, introduced the concept of “revolutionary social capital.” This new notion explores how connections, networks, and circles of knowledge get institutionalized after a hot event, translating into social positions previously born during the protest action.
Ten years later, Guillaume Beaud, who researched the sociology of the elite in the Iranian state, focuses on historicizing the trajectory of individuals and the position of these social groups. The aim is to move away from focusing mainly on how the revolutionary experience impacts alliances and networks, to highlighting the continuity that the researcher invites us to take seriously, avoiding an overly dramatic view of what is known as a “regime change.”
References: – “Les hommes pluriels de la révolution : fabrique d’une première génération de hauts fonctionnaires islamistes et structuration de l’État en Iran (post) révolutionnaire”, an article by Guillaume Beaud and Behnaz Khosravi, in the journal “Critique internationale,” in 2024. – “Le capital social révolutionnaire. L’exemple de la Syrie entre 2011 et 2014,” an article by Adam Baczko, Gilles Dorronsoro, and Arthur Quesnay in “Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales,” in 2016. – “J’ai décidé d’être le père de la province. Écriture de soi et répertoires de légitimation chez les élites administratives en Iran et au Pakistan,” another article by Guillaume Beaud in “Politix,” in 2023.
