| ID | 187548 |
| Title Proper | Corporatism without party |
| Other Title Information | the state, war, and industrial labor in the Islamic Republic of Iran |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Kalb, Zep |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Did the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran empower or weaken workers? Scholars have mainly studied how regime consolidation between 1979 and 1983 weakened labor organizations. By contrast, I argue that the Iran-Iraq war (1980–88) empowered workers by compelling state actors to incorporate segments of the industrial workforce vertically into the state. Corporatism – the hierarchical integration of the state and organized groups representative of industrial labor – expanded workers’ associational bargaining power in post-revolutionary Iran. Triangulating between official and non-state archival sources, I propose three mechanisms leading to corporatist development in war-time Iran. First, inter-party and factional competition pushed state elites to accept revolutionary work councils as legitimate institutions. Second, war and international isolation forced managers, bureaucrats, and the military to support work councils in order to increase productivity and recruit worker-soldiers. Third, by asserting control over an expanding bureaucracy in charge of war mobilization, labor leaders were able to create a more autonomous organization, called the Workers’ House. In the MENA, corporatism is usually associated with authoritarian consolidation. By contrast, corporatist development in Iran led to industrial workers’ political inclusion. Corporatism in the Islamic Republic arguably improved labor rights, increased workers’ influence in policy-making, and helped broaden and institutionalize competition between political elites. |
| `In' analytical Note | Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 58, No.6; Nov 2022: p.1004-1023 |
| Journal Source | Middle Eastern Studies Vol: 58 No 6 |
| Key Words | War ; Iran ; Labor |