foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary

96 Foucault's Writings on the Iranian Revolution
people's movement. (The politicians would then be opposed to the religious
leaders and would certainly not win.) Or they would have to bind their own
hands in advance by accepting a form of government under which the political
parties would have precious little room for maneuver. ("Revolt with Bare
Hands: app., 212-13)
The last alternative mentioned above is of course what happened in the early
days of the Islamic Republic, in spring 1979, after the March 30-31 referendum
on an Islamic republic was ratified. Soon, all political panies in Iran
had to prove their "Islamic" credentials to be authorized, a situation that still
exists today. In early Noyember of 1978, as Foucault was writing this anicle,
he noted the hegemonizing aims of Khomeini's movement, but seemed not
to see any danger in them. Moreover, he actually applauded the hegemony
of the Islamists as a break with the politics of modernity, whether liberal or
socialist.
Carriere della sera published another of his artides, "The Challenge to the
Opposition, " two days later, on November 7. In this artide, Foucault once
again employed the term irreducible, now concerning Khomeini himself: "The
shah finds himself up against the religious leaders, the mullahs, and the irreducible
ayatollah" (app., 215; emphasis added). On November 5, later dubbed
"Black Sunday," uprisings broke out in Tehran and other cities. Crowds attacked
and set fire to police stations and government buildings. In a dramatic
gesture of defiarice; they collected pictures of the shah from these offices and
burned them on the streets in big bonfires. As mentioned earlier, on November
6, Prime Minister Sharif-Imami abruptly resigned and was replaced by
General Azhari, but this did not stem the tide of revolt. ]9
November 1978: Fouca u lt's Second Tri p to Iran
Before his second trip to Iran on behalf of Carriere della sera from November
9 to November IS, Foucault had another lengthy meeting with Bani-Sadr,
who recalled, "He wanted to understand how this revolution was able to be
produced, developing with no reference to any foreign power, and stirring
up an entire nation, despite the distance between towns and the difficulties
of communication. He wanted to reflect on the notion of power" (cited in
Eribon 1991, 286).
In his next artide, "The Revolt in Iran Spreads on Cassette Tapes, " published
in Carriere della sera on November 19, Foucault reponed on the deepening
revolt and especially the role of new media in the revolution. He wrote
glowingly of Khomeini, referring to him again as an "old saint" (app., 217).