Developmentalism in the Periphery; the Case of Gilan 1962-1978

The 1960s and 1970s were the period in which Iran, like some other countries in the Global South, enjoyed an unprecedented level of development thanks to the establishment of a central developmental state. However, new literature of development in Iran has shown that there were manifest differences with regard to the application of state’s development policies and societies’ reaction to them between center and periphery of the country.
This paper, in line with the new approaches to the history of development, will explore the complexities and particularities of the process of development in the region of Gilan from a local perspective. Thanks to its geographical position, its soil fertility, and its huge rural population, Gilan experienced a distinct rural development process. It was also the case for development in other sectors such as infrastructures, water reservoirs and factory constructions etc.
This paper aims to adopt a multilayered and comparative local and national approach, and its analysis deal with the role of a variety of development actors, ranging from local elites and population to national institutions and their development policies such as land reform.
The paper’s subject and its periodization is in line with the panel’s focus as it assesses the role of both state and society as promoters of development in the second Pahlavi era in Iran.