State and Identity: Sociological Explanation of the Identity Policies in the First Pahlavi State

This study explained why the national identity became important in the first Pahlavi state, why ancient elements of Iranian identity were highlighted, and why Islamic elements of their identity were marginalized. The results show that due to Iran's integration into the world system, the necessity of modern nation-building, and the importance of national identity in the modern state, made Iranians focus on their national identity. Since the powerful social forces challenged the state power at this period of time, the state tried to eliminate these social forces by enacting specific identity policies. Therefore, the state’s identity policies were mainly based on the state interests and not on the state ideology. In addition, these policies were formulated to weaken the rival social forces, especially the clergy and tribal leaders.