title: Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance, and New Movements for Rights
author:  Behzad Yaghmaian 
description: this book is a must read, indeed an eye opener, for all, including those misguided left-leaning (populist) activists who regrettably believe that the government of the Islamic Republic in Iran is anti-imperialist and thus worthy of their moral support. Bon apptit!  Review of Radical Political Economics<br /><br />Yaghmaians book is a captivating eyewitness account, told by a knowledgeable insider  While explaining the many shortcomings of the revolution, the author makes no false pretense to hold the answers  Instead, he focuses on everyday struggles and lets the voices of ordinary citizens speak  This is a book that deserves to be widely read.  Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations<br /><br />Social Change in Iran is quite unique and modern. It explains the pace of rapidly changing events taking place in Iran, by sifting through the concerns, hopes, and dreams of a people. This book makes a powerful and passionate statement that at the same time enables the reader to recognize the key players and events shaping the new Iranian polity and society.  Henri Lustiger-Thaler, coeditor of Artful Practices: The Political Economy of Everyday Life<br /><br />Yaghmaians work is timely and lively, dealing with a significant topic that has not yet been analyzed in Englishthe new generation in Iran.  Ervand Abrahamian, author of Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran
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  Preface vii
  I Introduction 1
  2 The Emergence of Protest: Political Explanations 12
  1977
  3 Mobilization of the Mosque Network: Organizational Explanations 33
  Earlty 1978
  4 Shi`i Appeals: Cultural Explanations 50
  Mid-1978
  5 General Strike: Economic Explanations 77
  Fall 1978
  6 Failure of the Fist: Military Explanations 105
  Winter 1978-1979
  7 A Viable Movement: Anti-Explanation 125
  Winter 1978-1979
  H Conclusion 163
  About the Sources 175
  Notes 187
  References 2,V)
  Acknowledgments 281
  Index 28.t
   
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  Iran first entered my consciousness, as it did many Americans', when U.S. diplomats were
  taken hostage in 1979. A quarter-century has passed, and I still recall my outrage. I
  remember participating in an anti-Iran rally with some of my high school classmates. In rush-
  hour traffic outside a mosque, we waved placards that read, "Honk if you hate the
  Ayatollah." Lots of drivers honked. They probably did not realize-I know we didn't-that the
  mosque was Saudi affiliated, that a