Control and Guidance of the Population Through Institutions and New Techniques of Governance in Iran (From Abbas Mirza to Reza Shah)

The attempt to control and direct the population in any society by power and government through new institutions and techniques of governance is one of the modern debates that was first proposed and developed by Foucault. By targeting individuals and the population to meet its needs, power designs techniques and institutions that, while making individuals visible, increase their control and guidance in society. In this context, in a descriptive-analytical manner, this article intends to examine the relationship between population and government through the actions of Abbas Mirza, Amir Kabir, Nasser al-Din Shah, the Constitution and Reza Shah, based on new governance institutions and techniques in Iran, especially the school institution, since the late nineteenth century, and show what developments took place in Iran facing the West and the formation of a crisis of awareness in the field of government and governance with the elite, And how and why did the population become the target of new rules and techniques of governance? For responding to these questions, this study seeks to prove the changing pattern of governance in Iran on the one hand and the state's efforts to control and guide the population in new institutions on the other hand in order to strengthen the foundations of its government while increasing productivity and obedience.