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

Notes to Pages 205-2 13 297
Khalq and the Islamic leftist Mujahedeen Khalq resulted in the death of more than three
hundred of their members. Some then abandoned such politics, but others remained,
allowing these groups to emerge in 1978-79, primarily within the student Left.
53. A group headed by Mehdi Bazargan, a prominent Islamist, who served as
interpreter during this conversation between Foucault and Shariatmadari. In 1977,
Bazargan and several others helped established the Iranian Committee for the Defense of
Freedom and Human Rights, which became a key link between the secular human rights
activists and the clerics. In 1979, he became Khomeini's first prime minister. Opposed to
the taking of hostages at the American Embassy, he resigned in late 1979.
54. This is apparently a reference to oil deposits.
55. Georges Gurvitch (1894-1965) was a prominent French sociologist and founder
of the journal Autogestion (Self-management).
56. Frantz Fanon (1925-61), Caribbean-born philosopher, journalist, and
psychologist, is often considered the greatest thinker produced by the African liberation
struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. Shariati translated some of his work into Persian. Louis
Massignon (1883-1962), a leading French Orientalist, is known especially for his writings
on the Sufis and other Islamic mystics.
minister.
57. This would mean making the moderate pro-U.S. politician Ali Amini prime
58. According to the editors of Dits et ecrits, at this point in the Italian version of this
article Foucault inserted the phrase, "I who know very little about Iran. "
59. We have been unable to trace the identity of this pseudonymous writer.
60. Here and below, the ellipsis points in square brackets were apparently inserted
by the editors of Le Nouvel Observateur.
61. Sura 1 (The Cow), verse 2:223 states: "Your wives are a tilth for you, so go into
your tilth when you like and do good beforehand for yourselves and be careful of your
duty to Allah and know that you will meet Him, and give good news to the believers."
62. This refers to the fact that many of Muhammad's statements limiting women's
freedom, including the call for more modest clothing, reflected his conflicts with his wives,
particularly the youngest, Aisha. See sura 24 (The Light), verse 31; sura 30 (Allies), verse 32.
63 . Ellipsis points apparently inserted by the author herself.
64. Foucault refers to three upheavals, each with a Marxist dimension, with the
first and the third ones also having been led by Marxist-Leninist vanguard parties: the
Chinese Revolution of 1949, the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the Vietnamese national
resistance, first against the French and then the United States, ending in 1975.
France.
65. The massive, mainly student, revolts of 1968 took their most radical form in
66. This small animal has sharp spines on its back, which bristle when it is attacked.
67. This meant no political debates or negotiations with the regime, an absolutely
uncompromising stance that was very popular with both the Islarnists and the far left
groups like the Fedayeen and the Mujahedeen.
68. According to the editors of Dits et ecrits, Foucault had proposed two possible
titles for this article, "Order Has Its Dangers" and "The Weekend of Tehran." The latter