De-nationalising Nationalism in Iran: An Account on the Interaction between Domestic and International Dynamics

Abstract

The discipline of International Relations is increasingly paying attention to nationalism, although this attention is mostly limited with the role of nationalism on international system. By presenting an approach born out of the intersection of Historical Sociology in International Relations (HSIR) and the Modernist School of Nationalism, this paper aims at expanding the terrain of nationalism studies in International Relations (IR). Using Iran as an example, it demonstrates that three basic premises of HSIR—the interaction between domestic and international dynamics, historicization, and multi-causality—are central to analysing nationalism, which is only associated with the domestic level. It argues that HSIR has much to offer not only to studies of nationalism and/in the Middle East but also to the discipline of IR by elucidating the international connections of this seemingly domestic issue.

Keywords

Historical Sociology, Nationalism, Internationalization of Nationalism, Iran, Pahlavi Period

Citation

Zelal Ozdemir and Ayca Ergun, “De-nationalising Nationalism in Iran: An Account on the Interaction between Domestic and International Dynamics”, Uluslararasi Iliskiler, Vol. 18, No. 69, 2021, pp. 87-102, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.849365

Affiliations

• Zelal OZDEMIR, Dr., Middle East Technical University, Center for Black Sea and Central Asia (KORA)
• Ayca ERGUN, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Middle East Technical University, Department of Sociology