Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract he formative period of Alatas’ thought was that of colonialism, particularly in British Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies. While a student at the University of Amsterdam in the 1950s, he wrote his first piece on the problems of colonialism. Here, he divided the problems created by colonialism into three categories. The third category is the non-material, that is, the sociological, psychological and moral problems created by colonialism. Alatas believed that the greatest damage that colonialism brought about was in this third area and it was this problem that hampered the solution to many societal problems. It was also during this time that Alatas attached a great deal of importance to the nature of the elite in development. He suggested that the ruling elite which was nurtured in the colonial period lacked a well-integrated system of thought, having been unable to bring about a synthesis between their cultural heritage and Western thought. This chapter described Alatas’ decolonial perspective in terms of his theory, method and context.

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.

Abstract This article discusses Syed Hussein Alatas’ approach towards social science and his idea of progressive Islam. It first explores Alatas’ image of the current situation of Asian and Muslim societies in relation to two concepts of “closed mind” and “terrorism”. The article then discusses Alatas’ perspectives on the status of social science in Asian countries and their position between the two edges of the "captive mind" and "intellectual imperialism". Alatas calls for a tradition of independent and creative social science as an alternative to localization or Islamization of science. As a case, the article explores Alatas’ own encounter with Western thinkers and his subsequent effort to promote an independent tradition of social science in Asia. This is done based on his intellectual engagement with socialism, and Weber's theory regarding the economic ethics of Islam and the development of capitalism in Southeast Asia. The article then concludes with a critique of Alatas’ approach towards building such tradition, arguing that he did not pay sufficient attention to the epistemic roots of modern social science in the West and the epistemic logic of creating an independent social science tradition in non-Western countries.
 

Abstract Western and European visitor and travelers have traditionally played an important function in the development of Orientalism, and travelogues are one of the valuable sources in Orientalism. Russian travelogues about Iran in the 19th century contain many points about the Russians' perception, understanding and orientalism views of Iran as a nation and as peoples.Indeed mutual relations between 19th century Iran, as an independent Asian country, and Russia, as a European colonial power, underwent and experienced much turmoil and trial. In this study, relying on the views of the contemporary sociologist Professor Seyed Hussein Al-Atas the 19th century Russian travelogues view of Iranian people’s cultural and social life are examined. The article will answer the question of how the Russians, as a European colonizer, looked at the lives of the Iranian people, and what image of Iran as an independent Asian country is drawn in Russian travel books? As a case example we will also try to divulge and analyze the components and parameters that Professor Al-Atas believes exist and constitute in European and Western Orientalism within that of the Russian travelogues.This research analyzes the role of travelogues in the formation of mental images about Iran using the qualitative content analysis method.

Abstract How does Alatas conceptualize the concept of 'Intellectual'? The problem of intellectuals in the modern world is one of the most challenging questions in the context of social sciences and humanities. Alatas distinguishes between the role of intellectuals in the developing countries and developed societies. What are the assumptive foundations of Alatas's perspective on the role of intellectuals in developing societies? There are many non-eurocentric narratives on the role of intellectuals (e.g. Ali Shariati, Jalal Ale Ahmad, Edward Said and …) in the contemporary world but few have worked upon the perspective conceptualized by Syed Hussein Alatas in relation to the future of intellectuals as a modern species in the world, in general, and in the developing societies, in particular. In other words, in this chapter, we shall work on the concept of intellectual as understood by Alatas and try to find out the relevance of his approach in the present contexts of developing societies and also if this non-eurocentric breed could have any impact on the global state of affairs through his/her critical engagements.

Abstract How should one read Syed Hussein Alata's’ The Myth of the Lazy Native in Iran? What are its possible contributions towards theorizing an ideological concept that has kept Iranian dynamics of progress in suspense for a long time? This article attempts to expand on the idea of Iranian exceptionalism, observe and explain the discourse around it. The author employs Alatas’s writings, particularly those from his book The Myth of the Lazy Native, in order to argue that Iranian exceptionalism is a mentality created and empowered by internal despotism as well as external semi-colonialism in modern Iran.

Borrowing ideas from Alates's analysis of postcolonial Malaysia, the author suggests that Iranian exceptionalism locates at the intersection of gender, religious, and national ideologies - it refers to a being and condition of contradiction. It is what makes the nation’s image of itself both inferior and superior towards the other at the same time. It is indeed what makes imagining future change impossible – and therefore ideological.