Cultural Anarchology:(1/2) Critique of Cultural Authoritarianism and the Dilemmas of Iranian Culture in Light of Democratic and Anarcoratic Values

 

Cultural Anarchology:(1/2)

 Critique of Cultural Authoritarianism and the Dilemmas of Iranian Culture in Light of Democratic and Anarcoratic Values 

✍️ Mahmoud Sadeghi Janbehan

Translated and assisted by ChatGPT

✅ Introduction

In this essay, drawing on the foundations of the system of Cultural Anarchology, I analyze and anatomize the phenomenon of cultural authoritarianism, the emergence of an authoritarian culture, and their consequences in generating crises and preventing the flourishing of Iranian culture in the broader trajectory of human civilization. The central research question is: Why has Iranian culture, despite its rich historical resources, remained trapped in the continual reproduction of authoritarianism and cultural stagnation? And how does cultural authoritarianism transform into an authoritarian culture?

Within this framework, “cultural authoritarianism” is understood not merely as a cultural, social, or political phenomenon but as a deeply effective mechanism in reproducing values, norms, and modes of social life within a society. Using the criteria and values of democracy and anarcoracy, this essay argues that Iranian culture, at many historical junctures, has tended less toward nurturing free, justice-oriented, and dignity-centered subjects and more toward producing an authoritarian culture: a culture that is both the carrier and reproducer of domination and, most importantly, one that distances individuals and society alike from an ethical mode of existence.

The purpose of this preliminary essay is to set the groundwork for a broader research project aimed at opening new horizons in critiquing Iranian culture from the perspective of Cultural Anarchology. The focus will be on the liberating and ethical dimensions of culture, on one hand, and its destructive and pathological aspects, on the other—so that through this critique, it becomes possible to rethink cultural foundations and sketch an alternative model for collective life rooted in freedom, equality, and a culture free of domination.

✅ Theoretical Foundations of Cultural Anarchology

Cultural Anarchology, as a subfield of the broader framework of Anarchology, is an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on analyzing the links between the individual, society, and culture within their psychological, social, and historical contexts. In this approach, culture is not a static set of traditions but a dynamic and multilayered field in which language, customs, rituals, beliefs, symbols, identities, behaviors, and collective orientations are continuously reproduced and redefined.

Language and discourse, as tools of meaning-making and power, play a fundamental role in shaping cultural order. Customs and rituals serve as mechanisms that enable the continuity and reproduction of social order. Beliefs and myths provide networks of religious, symbolic, and value-based ties that organize collective behavior. Furthermore, symbols and identities, through symbolic processes, determine how individual and collective identity is stabilized or transformed, while behaviors and cultural orientations embody the lived values of society.

The central aim of Cultural Anarchology is to analyze how culture is formed, reproduced, and transformed in connection with systems of power and domination, while also exploring the possibilities of emancipatory and flourishing cultures on the path toward democratic and anarcoratic models.

At the same time, Cultural Anarchology studies the historical and socio-cultural contexts that shape cultural transformations, showing how culture, under hierarchical political, religious, and social systems, becomes a tool for consolidating domination. Under such conditions, culture loses its dynamism and creativity, leading to cultural authoritarianism: an authoritarianism that, through the suppression of cognitive and moral courage, spontaneity, dignity, inquiry, and innovation, locks society into a state of cultural stagnation and regression.

In contrast, Cultural Anarchology highlights the possibility of cultural democracy—a condition in which culture is freed from the monopoly of hierarchical and official authorities, and all individuals and groups can participate freely in producing and redefining culture. Yet the ultimate horizon of this approach is the transition toward cultural anarcoracy: a form of cultural self-governance where horizontal relations replace domination and culture becomes a field for creativity, freedom, and emancipation.

✅ Culture of Domination and Dominating Culture

Culture and its dynamic elements, as products of human collective and historical experience, have always been shaped by both constructive and destructive forces. Psychological, social, religious, philosophical, political, and historical factors can obstruct cultural growth and halt its upward trajectory.

History shows that cultures have continually emerged from crises, wars, domination, and destruction—each time reconstructing themselves in new ways. Education, knowledge production, and scientific innovation have always played decisive roles in enabling cultural flourishing.

A vivid example of such transformation can be seen in attitudes toward mental illness. A century ago, the mentally ill were deprived of rights and subjected to brutal treatment. Today, they are recognized as human beings with rights, treated with dignity and care. This change shows that while culture can be an instrument of domination, it also carries the potential for fundamental transformation toward freedom and human dignity.

The “culture of domination” refers to a set of traits and attitudes that hinder the psychological, ethical, and social growth of individuals and society. Traits such as greed, envy, aggression, racism, dogmatism, intolerance, resentment, mockery, sabotage, inability to celebrate others’ success, lack of cooperation, character assassination, dishonesty, opportunism, and similar practices all serve as mechanisms of domination. These elements, at both individual and collective levels, form a context in which creativity is suppressed, freedom of thought is limited, and pathways to psychological and social elevation are blocked.

From this perspective, critiquing the culture of domination is not merely a critique of individual behaviors or social practices, but an attempt to reveal the deeper mechanisms through which domination is reproduced within culture itself. Without such critique and rupture, no society can transition toward a free, equal, and creative mode of existence.

✅ Authoritarian Culture and Hierarchies of Power

A key foundation of Cultural Anarchology is analyzing the close relationship between culture and hierarchical systems of power, particularly political power. Throughout history, culture has been intertwined with social institutions that, through language, traditions, and values, have not only reproduced meaning and collective identity but also reinforced specific forms of domination. Any analysis of cultural change without reference to mechanisms of power is, therefore, incomplete.

Authoritarian culture arises from the alliance of culture with hierarchical structures of power, where cultural tools are mobilized in the service of authority. This is evident in practices such as privileging one national language while marginalizing others; promoting dominant forms of art and literature while silencing alternatives; venerating rituals devoid of ethical or human content; assimilating diverse cultures into an official culture; generating humiliation by absolutizing certain cultural values; reinforcing racism, excessive historicism, closed nationalism, cultural chauvinism, and enforced homogenization; fostering submissive intellectuals; and reproducing racial and ethnic prejudices.

Such dynamics weave an authoritarian culture deeply into the social fabric, often without individuals’ full awareness, perpetuating the standards of cultural authoritarianism. Over time, this process creates a form of “cultural pathology” that infiltrates both formal and informal institutions, reproducing itself across all social and cultural domains.

Most dangerously, cultural authoritarianism takes root not first among the masses but among the intellectual elites—academics, analysts, writers, and public thinkers. Racism and prejudice, before trickling down to ordinary people, often become embedded within academic theorizing and intellectual discourse. This deprives intellectuals of cognitive justice and cultural courage, replacing emancipatory thinking with epistemic passivity and compliance with domination.

Within the system of Cultural Anarchology, this condition is not merely a social problem but a symptom of a deeper crisis in the relationship between power and culture. Such a crisis can only be overcome through a radical critique of cultural hierarchies and a transition first toward cultural democracy, and ultimately toward cultural anarcoracy.

📖 Reference

Sadeghi Janbehan, M. (2025). Cultural Anarchology: Critique of Cultural Authoritarianism and the Dilemmas of Iranian Culture in Light of Democratic and Anarcoratic Values (1/2). Retrieved from https://anarchology.blogfa.com