【来源】《世界史研究》英文版(World History Studies)2025年第1期

【内容摘要】

Since the Islamic Revolution, Western Iranian studies have undergone significant transformations, with many scholars of Iranian descent actively contributing to the field. Among them, Homa Katouzian stands out as a prominent figure. Katouzian critiques the path dependency inherent in Western Iranian studies and proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework for analyzing Iranian society and history. Katouzian argues that unconstrained autocratic power has been the fundamental issue shaping Iran’s historical development, leading to a persistent despotic social structure that has hindered long-term societal progress. This, in turn, has perpetuated the antagonistic relationship between the state and society, ultimately resulting in Iran’s lagging development relative to the West. However, influenced by Western intellectual traditions, Katouzian’s theoretical approach exhibits certain limitations, leading to a somewhat unbalanced analysis of certain historical issues. Scholars of Iranian descent, represented by Katouzian, have become a dominant force in Western Iranian studies. While they are driven by a “search for a path”—seeking insights from history to envision Iran’s future—they are also subtly shaped by their prolonged exposure to Western academic and social environments. As such, their perspectives on Iran must be approached with a dialectical and critical lens.

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