The Role of American Land Reform in the Failure and Underdevelopment of Agricultural Economy in Iran (Second Pahlavi Era)

Subject Areas : Journal of Iranian Social Development Studies

zahra amiri ¹ , REZA shabani ² , mohamad kalhor ³

1 - Islamic Azad University, Yadegar Imam Branch
2 - Professor of Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of History, Yadgar Imam Khomeini Unit, Islamic Azad University, Shahrari, Iran

Received: 2021-01-20 Accepted : 2021-03-13 Published : 2022-05-22

Keywords: Second Pahlavi, America, Iran, Agrarian Reform, Communism,

Abstract :

Land reform was the most important program of social transformation, which was on the agenda of Mohammad Reza Shah in the early 1340s. The Shah and the Amini government were responsible for implementing the plan, inspired by the ideas of Walt Whitman Rostow, an American economic historian and Kennedy adviser, who sought to implement a Western version of development in Iran. This article seeks to answer the fundamental question, how did the American land reform cause the failure and underdevelopment of the agricultural economy in Iran? Since there are no hypotheses to test, this study seeks to explore and define new concepts in an exploratory manner. The land reform was carried out in the United States under Iran. Contrary to US officials' claims, the main purpose of its implementation was not to elevate it. The level of welfare of the people, but also the strengthening of US-affiliated capitalism against the communists, as well as providing a market and a platform for the sale of US consumer goods in Iran. The Americans, for various reasons, including lack of awareness of the social context of Iran, rapid implementation of reforms, disregard for the leadership of the reforms, use of repression theory, could not conclude the reforms they intended for Iran. Incomplete implementation of the land reform program, census Unrealistic agriculture, changing the traditional land system without institutionalizing a suitable model or alternative, disrupting part of Iran's social fabric following the incomplete implementation of the land reform program, dissatisfaction of landowners and landowners,