【来源】《世界史研究》英文版(World History Studies)2025年第1期

【内容摘要】

Since the Islamic Revolution, Western Iranian studies have undergonesignificant transformations, with many scholars of Iranian descent activelycontributing to the field. Among them, Homa Katouzian stands out asa prominent figure. Katouzian critiques the path dependency inherentin Western Iranian studies and proposes a comprehensive theoreticalframework for analyzing Iranian society and history. Katouzian arguesthat unconstrained autocratic power has been the fundamental issueshaping Iran’s historical development, leading to a persistent despoticsocial structure that has hindered long-term societal progress. This, inturn, has perpetuated the antagonistic relationship between the state andsociety, ultimately resulting in Iran’s lagging development relative to theWest. However, influenced by Western intellectual traditions, Katouzian’stheoretical approach exhibits certain limitations, leading to a somewhatunbalanced analysis of certain historical issues. Scholars of Iraniandescent, represented by Katouzian, have become a dominant force inWestern Iranian studies. While they are driven by a “search for a path”—seeking insights from history to envision Iran’s future—they are also subtlyshaped by their prolonged exposure to Western academic and socialenvironments. As such, their perspectives on Iran must be approachedwith a dialectical and critical lens.

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