Hussein Alatas and the Captive Mind: Intellectual Imperialism in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Xiamen University Malaysia

Abstract
Seyed Hossein Alatas is one of the few postcolonial thinkers who draws our attention to the idea of "mental captivity and intellectual imperialism." While many thought that decolonization was complete with the disintegration of Western colonies, he pointed to the issue of mental captivity and the presence of a captive mind—"an uncritical and imitative mind dominated by an external source, whose thinking is deflected from an independent perspective "—perpetuating the dominance of Eurocentric paradigms and intellectual imperialism. This article attempts to map out the reception of the captive mind in Iran. To map this out, I will discuss how Alatas’ concept of ‘the captive mind’ traveled to Iran and then how it is received in Iran of the post-1979 Revolution. This article highlights how discourses such as Jalal Al-e Ahmad’s Gharbzadegi and Samad Behrangi’s Amrikazadegi shape the reception of Alatas’ captive mind in Iran. The writings of these thinkers lead us to the themes of intellectual imperialism and academic corruption in the context of Iranian education. Then this article will use the concept of the captive mind as an analytical tool to explore the causes of academic corruption.

Keywords


 آل احمد، جلال (1384) غرب‌زدگی، کتاب الکترونیک.
بهرنگی، صمد (1965) کندوکاو در مسائل تربیتی ایران. تهران: بامداد.
Alatas, Sh. M. (2020) “Applying Syed Hussein Alatas’s Ideas in Contemporary Malaysian Society”, Asian Journal of Social Science, No.48 : 319-338.
Alatas, S. F. (2004) “The Meaning of Alternative Discourses: Illustrations from Southeast Asia”, In Asia in Europe, Europe in Asia, edited by Srilata Ravi, Mario Rutten, and Goh Beng Lan. Leiden: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Alatas, S. F.  (2008)“Intellectual and Structural Challenges to Academic Dependency”, International Sociological Association, E-Bulletin, No 9: 3-26.
Alatas, S. F.  (2012) “Social Theory as Alternative Discourse”, In Decolonising the University: The Emerging Quest for Non-Eurocentric Paradigms, edited by Claude Alvares and Shad Saleem Faruqi. Pula Pinang, Malaysia: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Alatas, S. H.  (1972)“The Captive Mind in Development Studies: Some Neglected Problems and the Need for an Autonomous Social Science Tradition in Asia”, International Social Science Journal, No.xxiv (1) : 9–25.
Alatas, S. H. (1974) “The Captive Mind and Creative Development”, International Social Science Journal, No.36 (): 691-99.
Alatas, S. H. (1974) “Education and the Captive Mind”, In Asian Seminar Proceedings, ed. E.H. Medlin, (39–45). Adelaide: University of Adelaide.
Alatas, S. H. (2002) “The Development of an Autonomous Social Science Tradition in Asia: Problems and Prospects”, Asian Journal of Social Science, No.30 (1) : 150-157.
Alatas, S.H. (2006) “The Autonomous, the Universal and the Future of Sociology”, Current Sociology, No.54 (1): 7–23.
Alatas, S.H. (2018) The Problem of Corruption, Kuala Lumpur: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.
Altbach, Ph. G., & Hazelkorn, E. (2017) “Why Most Universities Should Quit the Rankings Game”, University World News, 8 January.
Alvares, C. (2012) “A Critique of Eurocentric Social Sciences and the Question of Alternatives”, In Decolonising the University. The Emerging Quest for Non-Eurocentric Paradigms, edited by Claude Alvares and Shad Saleem Faruqi. Pula Pinang, Malaysia: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Dabashi, H. (2006) Theology of Discontent, London and New York: Routledge.
Ghaneirad, M. A. (2011) “Critical Review of the Iranian Attempts toward the Development of Alternative Sociologies”, International Journal of Social Sciences, No.1 (2): 125-144.
Giroux, H. (2004)  “What Education Might Mean after Abu Gharib: Revisiting Adornos’ Politics of Education”, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, No.24 (1): 5-24.
Hanson, B. (1983) “The “Westoxication” of Iran: Depictions and Reactions of Behrangi, Al-e Ahmas, and Shariati”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, No.15 (1): 1-23.
Hooglund, E., & Hegland, M. (1976) “Introduction”, in The Little Black Fish and Other Modern Persian Stories, edited by Samad Behrangi, (Eric Hooglund and Mary Hegland,  Trans.).  Boulder, CO: Three Continents Press.
Khomeini, R. (1981) Islam and Revolution, (Tr. Hamid Algar.), Berekely: Mizan Press.
Nair-Venugopal, Sh. (2012) The Gaze of the West and Framings of the East, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Zeiny, E. (2019) “Academic Imperialism: Towards Decolonisation of English Literature in Iranian Universities”, Asian Journal of Social Science, No.47: 88-109.
 
Volume 16, Issue 3
Autumn 2022
Pages 23-42

  • Receive Date 09 February 2023
  • Accept Date 15 March 2023
  • First Publish Date 15 March 2023
  • Publish Date 23 October 2022