Analyzing the components of modern governmentality in Akhundzadeh's political thought

Naseri, Bigom; Hamidi, Somaye; Farzanepour, Hosein

doi:10.22103/jis.2026.20518.2414

Analyzing the components of modern governmentality in Akhundzadeh's political thought

Document Type : Scientific

Authors

¹ Master of Political Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Birjand University, Birjand

² Department of Political Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Birjand University, Birjand, Iran

³ Associate Professor and member of the Faculty of Political Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Birjand University, Birjand

10.22103/jis.2026.20518.2414

Abstract

in the middle of the Qajar period, following the defeat of Iran from Russia, the educated class of Iran sought to discover the causes of the country's backwardness and its defeat by Russia. Challenging the power structure, Iranian intellectuals were more concerned with the rule of law, constitutional rights, and the establishment of a constitutional government. In this regard, in the time of Nasser al-Din Shah, tribal authority in the face of the new world and with the introduction of concepts such as law, civil rights, libertarianism, etc. was shaken and concepts of traditional Iranian political culture such as authority and obedience, sanctity of power and Criticism and ... were challenged by Iranian intellectuals. One of these intellectuals is Akhundzadeh. He realized the need for political transformation for cultural and economic change, sought enlightenment and political reform, and compared Iranian society with Western societies to examine the causes of Iranian society's backwardness. This research uses a descriptive-analytical method and based on data extraction from Akhundzadeh's main treatises to explain the evolution of governmentality in Akhundzadeh's thought.

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