The Iranian Revolution is one of the most misunderstood events of modern history. Often viewed as simply the origin of the current theocratic dictatorship, the promise and potential of the revolution has been erased. In reality, the revolution saw Iranian workers topple a hated, US-backed monarchy. Forms of popular democracy emerged that held the possibility of not only changing the government, but changing the way society was organised.
How did this end up in the autocratic regime that exists today? This session will analyse the causes and dynamics of the revolution, and put forward an argument of what was the third way between Western imperialism, and local dictatorship.