The Analysis of Sarbedaran Movement Based on Charles Tilly Collective Action Theory

Ahvaz, Iran The combination of history and theory is among the methods that many scholars, including historians and sociologists, have shown their interest in that. Charles Tilly is a sociologist who has used historical events to illustrate how sociological patterns work. This article analyzes the Sarbedaran social-religious movement based on the theory of collective action by him. Thus, the concepts which are related to the collective action theory such  as interests, organization, mobilization, collective action, opportunity, threat, suppression and facilitation, were extracted from the history and described. Then, based on those concepts,  the inner elements of the Sarbedaran movement, namely the impact of economic interests, the role of the Dervishes, futuwat Organization, Shiite and the sources of effective mobilization of forces, as well as the objective factors, such as the conditions for suppression or facilitation of the confrontation between the challenging groups of the Leaders and the political community of the Ilkhans have been analysed. The method used in this article is comparative. The findings show that continuation of tax encroachment and double taxation, the role of the Sufi traditions, the Shiite, and the organization of futuwat and close connection between its social forces and the movement's organization as well as the political role of such forces are major sources of mobilization, and the disintegration of the Ilkhanates government and also the inability of their armed forces to suppress the opposition and challenger groups, are facilitating conditions for the Sarbedaran movement.