علی کمالی

The emergence of new social movements in the Middle East with the aim of reforming or changing the established system and with different characteristics from traditional and classical movements is one of the topics that has attracted the attention of sociologists and social researchers. In this study, using a descriptive-analytical method, based on Ted Robert Greer's theory of "relative deprivation", an attempt has been made to investigate the emergence of new social movements in the Middle East and to examine whether another factor was involved in the emergence of this phenomenon or not. In order to facilitate the process of research and show real evidence, the Egyptian revolution will be discussed as a case study. Thus we organize the present article in the framework of the following questions: "Does the theory of 'relative deprivation' have the ability to explain new social movements in the Middle East, such as the Egyptian revolution?" And "What factors besides this theory can enhance the ability to explain these movements?" The results obtained from the analysis of the January Revolution in Egypt and the role of social media Revolution indicate that although the developments of Islamic societies are rooted in the dissatisfaction of the people of these countries with the situation of their society, however, the role of "mass media" in motivating and organizing people to participate in the main streets and squares of the city cannot be ignored. In fact, the "relative deprivation" of Egyptian society during the rule of Hosni Mubarak has acted as a motivating factor of people and social media and networks such as Facebook have played the role of catalyst.

To strengthen and perpetuate the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, familiarity with its intellectual foundations and goals is essential. This article employs Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory to argue that before the Islamic Revolution, Iranian political discourse was centered around the idea of “Sultanism.” However, this dominant discourse was challenged by two intellectual realms: religious and intellectual. In religious thought, Imam Khomeini’s reinterpretation of the principle of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) and his assertion of the incompatibility of Shiism with monarchy rendered his political discourse credible among opponents of Sultanism. In the intellectual domain, while leftist and liberal discourses lost credibility over time, the national-religious discourse of liberal intellectuals (the Freedom Movement) gained traction by better understanding the religious context, aligning with Khomeini’s religious discourse to undermine the neo-patrimonialist narrative. The findings indicate that Khomeini’s discourse, emphasizing social justice, support for the oppressed, and Islamic unity around Velayat-e Faqih, successfully replaced the Sultanism discourse, achieving a level of success that previous religious discourses had not attained.