NATIONALISM, RACIALIZATION, AND THE POLITICS OF INCLUSION: THE CASE OF TURKS IN IRAN (1828-1940)

Abstract

This study critically examines the role of racialization in shaping Iranian national identity from the late Qajar to early Pahlavi periods (1828–1940). It challenges Western-centric theories of nationalism that fail to account for non-colonized states like Iran and adopts a historical sociology approach to explore how Persian identity was constructed as the dominant national identity through the racialization of non-Persian groups. By integrating critical race theory and historical sociology, this research investigates how European racial theories, particularly Aryanism, were appropriated by Iranian intellectuals to reinforce Persian-centered nationalism, marginalizing non-Persian communities, particularly Turks in Iran.The study traces the intellectual transmission of Persophilia from European Orientalists to Iranian nationalists, examining the influence of thinkers such as Hegel, Goethe, and Nietzsche in shaping an Aryanist framework that romanticized Persia as the cradle of civilization. Their ideas contributed to a racialized historical imagination, later embraced by Iranian intellectuals like Fatali Akhundzade, Agha Khan Kermani, and Jalal al-Din Mirza Qajar, who integrated these racial and nationalist ideologies into Iranian historiography and state policies. Through an interdisciplinary analysis of historical texts, intellectual discourse, and state-building efforts, this research reveals how racialization became embedded in Iran’s nationalist project, leading to the exclusion and erasure of non-Persian groups. By centering the experiences of Turks in Iran, this study contributes to broader discussions on race, nationalism, and identity in non-Western contexts, demonstrating that racialized nation-building is not exclusive to the West. It examines how Aryanist discourse was localized in Iran to justify Persian hegemony, offering a comparative framework that situates Iran within global histories of race and nationalism. This research also highlights the limitations of Western theories in explaining non-Western experiences of nation-state formation, emphasizing that racialization, rather than language, religion, or culture alone—was central to the construction of the modern Iranian nation-state. This study offers a critical reassessment of nationalism and race in Iran, challenging dominant narratives that obscure the racialized processes underlying Iranian identity formation. By foregrounding racialization as a key mechanism in nation-building, it provides new insights into how nationalism in Iran operated as a homogenizing force, marginalizing non-Persian communities in ways that continue to shape contemporary Iranian identity politics.