The Ethnic Logic of Capital in the Global South: Ethnicity and Class in Neoliberal Iran
This project examines how capitalism in Iran reinforces ethnic hierarchies through the organisation of the labour market. Rather than treating ethnicity as an external or secondary factor, the research conceptualises it as integral to labour valuation and capital accumulation within the broader context of global capitalism. Drawing on theories of racial capitalism and social reproduction feminism, the project argues that ethnicity, like race and gender, is embedded within the mechanisms of capital accumulation and exploitation, structuring who works, where, for how much, and under what conditions.
The project poses the following research questions:
To what extent is the Iranian labour market organised along ethnic lines? How has this hierarchical ethnic ordering materially affected workers in both the central regions and the peripheral areas?
How have national left-wing organisations and labour groups conceptualised the relationship between class and ethnicity, particularly in relation to the labour market?
In what ways does the articulation of class and ethnicity by these organisations reflect or reinforce Persian-centric Iranian nationalism?
Employing a relational methodology, the project will combine archival analysis of documents from various governmental institutions with semi-structured interviews involving labour leaders, leftist intellectuals, and political actors. The project pursues three key objectives: (I) To challenge the assumption that neoliberal markets are identity-neutral under contemporary capitalism; (II) To develop a new analytical framework for understanding ethnic oppression in the Global South—particularly in the Middle East—thereby contesting exceptionalist and Orientalist paradigms; and (III) To offer a novel perspective on the relationship between the Iranian labour movement and nationalism, contributing to the broader effort to decolonise Iranian studies.