Analysis of the components of physical governmentality in Mirza Malekom Khan's political thought

Subject Areas : Political Developments in Iran

bigom naseri ¹ , Somayeh Hamidi ² , Hossain farzanepour ³

1 - Master of Political Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Birjand University, Birjand
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Birjand University, Birjand
3 - Department of Political Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Birjand University

Received: 2022-11-08 Accepted : 2022-12-29 Published : 2023-11-22

Keywords: Keywords: governmentality, Qajar, Foucault, Malekom Khan, modern,

Abstract :

The structure of pre-constitutional political power reflects metaphysical governmentality. With the arrival of modernity in Iran, some components of physical governmentality under the name of constitutional government were considered in the minds of intellectuals. The intellectuals of this period knew the reasons for the backwardness of the country and the progress of the West in the differences between the foundations of the governmentality. Among these intellectuals is Mirza Malekom Khan. He sought to lay the groundwork for government reform in Iran. Thus, he tried to correct the shortcomings and make the political system more efficient by criticizing power, and this led to the comparison of the pre-modern, pre-modern society and authoritarian government with the democratic and legitimate West. This descriptive-analytical method and using the main text of Malkom Khan's works seeks to analyze the principles of modern governmentality in his mind and explain the transition to mechanical rule based on law and order in the mind of this intellectual. The result of the present article is that Malkom Khan was a pioneer and propagandist of modernism and considered the solution to get out of Iran's backwardness in adhering to the monarchy, following the idea of freedom and the rule of law and accepting the modern system of government.