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The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies, University of Toronto, and the Invisible East Programme, the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford jointly present
Uncovered Untold Histories: Iranian Political Activist and Migrant Workers Under Stalin’s Great Terror
Touraj Atabaki, Senior Research Fellow, Leiden University
Thursday, 12 December 2024, 12:00 p.m. Toronto/5:00 p.m. UK
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Abstract:
This talk offers a modest contribution to the understanding of a lesser-known chapter in Soviet and Iranian history, focusing on the experiences of Iranian political activists and migrant labourers who were caught up in Stalin’s purges during the Great Terror. Drawing on archival sources from repositories in Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and institutions like the International Institute of Social History, it presents an exploration of the lives of those affected.
Utilizing a multilingual approach and adopting an interdisciplinary lens that incorporates history, political science, and migration studies, the talk aims to shed light on the complex dynamics between political activism, labour migration, and state repression. While addressing a gap in the study of Iran-Soviet relations and the international communist movement, it takes a cautious step in contributing to the broader scholarship.
By emphasizing personal stories alongside historical data, this talk seeks to provide a balanced perspective on how state repression during this period not only shaped political developments but also impacted the lives of individuals. Through this approach, it offers a more personal understanding of the consequences of Stalin’s policies on the Iranian victims of the Great Terror.
Bio:
Touraj Atabaki is Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute of Social History and Professor Emeritus of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia at Leiden University. Atabaki studied theoretical physics and later history at the University of London and Utrecht University. Following positions at Utrecht University and the University of Amsterdam, he joined Leiden University where he held the Chair of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia. Atabaki’s research encompasses historiography, social history of labour and subaltern studies in Twentieth century Iran, the Ottoman Empire and Turkey as well as the Caucasus and Central Asia. His forthcoming publications are Toiling for Oil. A Social History of Petroleum in Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2025) and Fallen in the Whirlwind: The Odyssey and Destiny of Iranian Victims of Stalinist Great Repression in the Soviet Union (Edinburg University Press). Atabaki’s major publications and research projects can be found on: https://socialhistory.org/en/staff/touraj-atabaki