This book analyzes the processes of social transformation in Iran from the height of the country's power in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under the Safavid dynasty to the aftermath of the startling revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi monarchy in 1979.

Introduction -- A Framework for the Study of Social Change in Iran -- Social Structure and Social Change in Pre-Capitalist Iran, 1500-1800 -- The Iranian Social Formation, circa 1630 -- Social Change in Iran from 1500 to 1800 -- Conclusion to Part One The Significance of the Safavid Period and the Eighteenth Century -- Social Structure and Social Change in Qajar Iran, 1800-1925 -- Crossing the Threshold of Dependence: The Iranian Social Formation from 1800 to 1914 -- Reform, Rebellion, Revolution, Coup: Social Movements in Qajar Iran -- Conclusion to Part Two The Theoretical Significance of the Qajar Period -- Social Structure and Social Change in Pahlavi Iran and After, 1925-1991 -- State, Society, and Economy in the Reza Shah Period, 1925-1941: The Compression of Social Forces -- Democratization, Separatism, Nationalization, Coup: Social Movements from 1941 to 1953 -- The New Situation of Dependency: Dependent Capitalist Development under Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, 1953-1977 -- The Making of the Iranian Revolution and After, 1977-1991 -- Conclusions The History of Social Change in Iran: A Theoretical Reprise