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| Sayyed Ja'far Pishevari was an Iranian/South Azerbaijani politician best known for founding and leading the Azerbaijani Democratic Party, which established and governed the short-lived Azerbaijan People's Government from November 1945 to December 1946. |
The historical memory of the twentieth century is replete with charismatic leaders who emerged amid social crises. Nelson Mandela, in apartheid-era South Africa—a society divided between Black people fighting for equality and whites concerned with maintaining security and privileges—became a symbol of unity and hope. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. emerged in racially segregated America, where African Americans demanded civil rights and white populations feared social instability. Through his inspiring leadership, King united millions around his charismatic vision.
While these figures are not directly comparable to Mir Jafar Pishevari, their examples offer a clearer understanding of the mechanics of charisma through minimal theoretical lenses.
Theoretical Foundations of Charisma
Max Weber conceptualizes charisma as an extraordinary quality inherent in an individual, which is recognized and believed in by followers. According to Weber, charisma only endures when it is translated into stable institutional forms—such as bureaucracies governed by rational-legal authority. This process is known as the “routinization of charisma.” Mandela exemplified this process by consolidating his leadership within the presidency and a new constitution, creating structures buttressed by broad domestic and international support, thus ensuring resilience.
Ernesto Laclau offers a complementary perspective, viewing charisma as a product of discursive and social processes crystallized in the notion of the “empty signifier.” The leader, as an empty signifier, is an open vessel that, especially in times of crisis, embodies diverse and sometimes conflicting demands from various social groups, serving as a unifying intersection. For Laclau, the durability of charisma depends on the leader’s ability to continuously reproduce a hegemonic discourse while remaining open to new social demands—like Mandela’s discourse of national reconciliation or King’s civil rights movement. Without robust institutionalization, charisma remains vulnerable.
Pishevari’s Leadership in Context
Mir Jafar Pishevari, with his political background in the Communist Party and the Jungle Movement, eleven years of imprisonment without trial, and as the elected representative of Tabriz whose credentials were denied, rose to prominence amid the crisis of Azerbaijan in 1945. Through his critical articles in newspapers such as Achiq Soz, Haqiqat, and Ajir, and as a compelling orator, he became the voice of the marginalized and an inspiring figure for various social strata.
Prior to the National Government, Azerbaijan was a region fraught with deep-rooted crises and fractures. Over sixty percent of the population lived in rural areas dominated by a feudal landlord-peasant system. Landowners controlled the land, while peasants survived on minimal shares of agricultural output, trapped in poverty and perpetual debt. Sixty percent of rural inhabitants were landless. The Tabriz market was fragile, battered by wartime inflation and shortages of goods. Different social groups held divergent demands: peasants sought land reform and justice; workers demanded better livelihoods and labor conditions; intellectuals and nationalists aimed to revive language and identity; merchants desired economic security and stable trade. In truth, no shared consensus existed beyond widespread dissatisfaction.
In this fractured environment, Pishevari positioned himself as a focal point. His charisma derived not only from his personal qualities but also from his ability to link disparate social demands. To peasants, he was a champion of justice; to intellectuals, a defender of culture and language; to merchants, a guarantor of order and security; and to women and workers, a force for improved conditions. His leadership stood at the intersection of multiple, often conflicting, demands.
The Fragility and Demise of Pishevari’s Leadership
Yet, this broad-based leadership failed to endure. While external pressures—such as military intervention and central government opposition—played a crucial historical role in destabilizing Pishevari’s government, a theoretical analysis reveals deeper causes. From Weber’s perspective, Pishevari was unable to stabilize his leadership within durable institutional frameworks. From Laclau’s standpoint, he failed to continually reproduce a hegemonic discourse capable of uniting fragmented social demands. His party was nascent and fragile.
The hastily implemented land reforms, in practice, incited the anger of landowners and skepticism among merchants, who perceived their property rights as threatened. Interventions in the grain market and essential goods, along with strict trade controls, disrupted the traditional market order. These policies widened the gap between promises and their fulfillment. Consequently, the public’s consensus around Pishevari as a unifying figure disintegrated, delivering a severe blow to the National Government.
Had Pishevari’s leadership succeeded in anchoring itself within a hegemonic discourse and stable institutions, the Azerbaijani Democrats’ experiment might today be remembered not as a failed attempt but as a viable alternative for fundamental reforms and enduring change throughout Iran.