9 - Shop Floor Labour Activism: From the White to the Islamic Revolution

Summary

Examining a sixteen-year period of oil labour history in Iran, beginning with the inauguration of Iran’s Third Development Plan in 1962, this analysis highlights a timeline where rapid economic growth persisted until 1976, subsequently leading to an economic crisis in 1977 and culminating in the revolution of 1978–79. Contrary to typical revolutionary patterns, this study argues that the Iranian Revolution was precipitated not merely by the short-lived economic recession but by more than a decade of rapid economic expansion beforehand. Despite varying interpretations of the economic and political roots of the 1978–79 revolution, there is a consensus among scholars about the decisive role played by the oil industry workers’ entrance into the revolutionary scene, which was pivotal for the revolution’s significant momentum. Revisiting the chronology of the revolution, this exploration delves into how workers in the Iranian oil industry prominently emerged during these upheavals and investigates how an industry, whose labour movements were historically shaped by a secular work and life culture, gradually came to embrace the Islamic leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini. Ultimately, this analysis seeks to examine the evolution of the positions of Iran’s oil working class in the year leading up to the collapse of the monarchy in Iran, striving to achieve a broader understanding of the determinative power of labour movements in political upheavals.