Page 271

REVISTA IEEE 11

271 Pedro Luis Rubio Terés The iranian elites as perceived from their society and… relation becomes «a condition for agency rather than its destruction»75. But on these premises, the whole society acquires a repressive character, notably concerning the oppression of female individuals. THE REBELLIOUS ACTORS: CIVIL SOCIETY AND STUDENTS In a more sociological inquiry, Butel uses the term «quasi-individual» to better explain the limitations of individualism76 within a more or less repressive order77. The question is then, where does the limit of individual liberty lay in such a social system? As a matter of fact, a state where the elites are increasingly distant from the people must implement some non-ordinary mechanisms of control, albeit the outcome might sometimes be contradictory. This is remarked by Butel’s article «L’individu postislamiste en Iran». «The modernizing state», he claims, «in its relentless aim to take control of the social structures implementing the obligatory schooling (…) has created the place for the aggregation of new subjects78». These subjects, Mohammadi believes, are the students who remain the keystone in the defense of HHRR in Iran despite the bloodshed in past social movements. This tendency, in his opinion, diverges from that of the official reformist faction, whose inclusion into the formal structures of power (and thus the acceptance of the established political rules) has undermined its critical nature79. Consequently, many reformist students consider this faction as finally absorbed by the authorities, and have therefore left the governmental arena in favor of the civil action, establishing two blocs within the student progressive forces (the Daftar-e Tahkeem-e Vahdat 80 or Office for Strengthening Unity). This common practice in political agency has nevertheless radicalized in reaction to the recurrent human rights’ violations, finally including civil disobedience in the range of political discourse. The geopolitical power relations As stated earlier, the analysis of the official political elites alone does not suffice to understand the internal power relations; neither does it explain the geopolitical 75  BUTLER, Judith. «Dynamic Conclusions» in Butler J., Laclau E., & Žižek S. (Eds.) Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary Dialogues on the Left, London: Verso, 2000, p. 277. 76  Individualism prevails among the young career oriented generations, but still collectivism takes form of an omnipresent common threat for any undesired behavior. 77  BUTEL, E., op. cit., p. 4. 78  BUTEL, E., ibídem, pp. 2-3. 79  MOHAMMADI, M., op. cit., pp. 623-624. 80  MOHAMMADI, M., op. cit., p. 624. http://revista.ieee.es

REVISTA IEEE 11
To see the actual publication please follow the link above