Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on transliteration and bibliography
- Glossary
- Introduction: an overview of politics and society
- 1 Ethnic anatomy and politics of non-Muslim minorities
- 2 The Assembly of Experts: debut in the year of destiny
- 3 Policy sphere of recognized religious minorities
- 4 Distinctions and designations as policy output
- 5 Prevalent responses of recognized religious minorities
- Conclusion: the perils of marginality
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Titles in Series
Conclusion: the perils of marginality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on transliteration and bibliography
- Glossary
- Introduction: an overview of politics and society
- 1 Ethnic anatomy and politics of non-Muslim minorities
- 2 The Assembly of Experts: debut in the year of destiny
- 3 Policy sphere of recognized religious minorities
- 4 Distinctions and designations as policy output
- 5 Prevalent responses of recognized religious minorities
- Conclusion: the perils of marginality
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Titles in Series
Summary
As this author sat in a telephone-dispatched taxi in Tehran, the taxi driver turned and looked at her: “You people are much better off than we are!” His voice was coarse. Taken aback, she asked: “Who is ‘you people’?” Without hesitation he replied: “Shoma aqaliatin digeh [Aren't you a minority]?” A whole range of philosophical thoughts raced through her head. The ease and intensity with which he used the label “aqaliat” was new to her in Iran. This was the unique byproduct of the theocratic system. The “aqaliat” was “the other,” “the marginal,” “the separate from us”: it was an institutionalized “otherness” which was disturbing and different. The taxi driver, unaware of the turmoil and shock he had caused, continued to repeat his question but also to respond to it. “You are a minority. Aren't you? With that name, of course you are!” Then, eventually, when she admitted to the classification, the driver sighed with an energetic cheeriness: “See … I knew it.”
Religious minorities have been segmented in word, thought, and action. The reference to the label “aqaliat” was expressed with the same ease by those members of the political and economic elite of the previous regime who had remained in the country after the Revolution.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Religious Minorities in Iran , pp. 154 - 163Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000