Mehrzad Boroujerdi

Mehrzad Boroujerdi received his Ph.D. in International Relations from The American University in 1990. For the next two years, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a Rockefeller Foundation fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.

Abstract:

Endangered Species: Intellectual-Statesmen in Iran

The aim of Dr. Boroujerdi’s presentation is to
problematize the issue of intellectual-statements in Iran by answering the following set of questions:
Should intellectuals play any official role in the political machinery of the state in a developing society like Iran? Or should they always remain as dissidents and perennial strangers from power? How should we assess the contributions of those intellectuals who regard themselves as “intellectual-statesmen”
(
dowltmard-e Rowshanfekr
)
and take an interest in joining the machinery of the state?
It will be argued that within Iran’s intellectual milieu both before and after the revolution, we have generally frowned upon the notion of “
dowltmard-e Rowshanfekr
” and instead have embraced a heroic view of “public intellectuals” as those speaking truth to power. This narrow definition has done enormous disservice to those individuals who rightfully decided to join the machinery of the state for the betterment of their society.