Iran's Reconstruction Jihad: Rural Development and Regime Consolidation after 1979

By: Eric S. Lob

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Synopsis: Based on over one hundred and thirty interviews with government officials, revolutionary activists, war veterans, and development experts, this is the first full length study in English to examine the significant yet understudied organization and ministry, Reconstruction Jihad, as a basis for understanding the political and social changes and continuities that have transpired in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) over the last four decades. Exploring the success of the Iranian revolution, the state's development policies, its overall resilience and the conflicting dynamics of its attempts to mobilize and institutionalize activists, Iran's Reconstruction Jihad is one of the few studies that adopts an institutionalist approach toward analyzing critical aspects of the IRI's history and politics, with comparative implications for analyzing revolutionary processes and outcomes across other geographic regions and time periods.