{"id":3497,"date":"2026-02-18T18:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:25:09","slug":"from-social-mourning-to-the-horizon-of-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/2026\/02\/18\/from-social-mourning-to-the-horizon-of-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"From Social Mourning to the Horizon of Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The bloody repression of the uprising of January 18. 2026, marks the entry of Iranian society into a qualitatively new phase of its historical development\u2014a phase characterized not merely by a temporary closure of public space, but by a condition of condensed social mourning, collective traumatization, internalized anger, and collective uncertainty. The apparent calm in the streets is not an expression of stability, but the result of a shocking condition produced through violence. Society is wounded\u2014by mass killings, systematic arrests, naked state violence, and systematic humiliation. Thousands of families are in mourning, hundreds of cities are in a state of social paralysis, and millions are affected by psychological exhaustion and collective trauma. What we are witnessing is a profound process of social mourning which\u2014without political confrontation and preparation for a consciously organized struggle for social revolution\u2014may turn into demoralization, atomization, and gradual submission.<\/p>\n

The strategic core question is this: Will this collective mourning lead to depoliticization and fragmentation of the subaltern classes\u2014or can it be transformed into conscious, organized, revolutionary energy aimed at overcoming existing relations of production and domination? The history of class struggle movements shows that mourning, when mediated through political organization and revolutionary consciousness, can become a material force contributing to the reorganization of collective agency.<\/p>\n

The uprising of January 18 developed on the ground of a structurally capitalist crisis and a religious-despotically regime in Iran. This crisis manifests itself in the erosion of the conditions for the reproduction of labor power: in the continuous real wage decline, mass unemployment, and the destruction of the social security system. The collapse of the national currency and its sudden devaluation due to exchange-rate dynamics functioned merely as triggering moments; structurally decisive was the transformation of the economic crisis into a comprehensive crisis of hegemony of the political ruling apparatus. The state’s capacity to regulate social contradictions through material concessions, ideological integration, or selective repression reached its limits. Under such conditions, the movement necessarily exceeded the framework of purely economic demands and articulated itself as an implicit questioning of the entire power apparatus.<\/p>\n

The reaction of the Islamic regime consisted in the immediate activation of the state’s monopoly of violence in its naked form. Extensive physical annihilation, mass imprisonment, and the militarization of public space aimed at producing a generalized effect of intimidation, breaking social initiative and pushing it back into passive reproduction. In the short term, the open presence of the revolting masses in urban space was contained. Without the intervention of organized revolutionary forces, however, there is a danger that the experience of defeat will turn into political disorientation, strategic isolation, and loss of collective agency. At the same time, the objective conditions of crisis\u2014the structural contradictions of capitalist accumulation and the authoritarian character of the state\u2014remain active and continuously reproduce the potential for renewed social explosions.<\/p>\n

Under such conditions, the task of conscious and revolutionary forces\u2014especially the Communists\u2014acquires qualitatively heightened importance. Society currently finds itself in a complex constellation of contradictory affective states: anger over manifest class oppression and spilled blood, mourning for the fallen, and a persistent hope born from the experience of collective agency, insisting that this condition cannot represent a permanent form of social reproduction.<\/p>\n

This hope does not arise from voluntarist illusion, but is materially grounded in existing structural crises from which the regime cannot find an exit.<\/p>\n

Yet anger and exhaustion, if not mediated by political consciousness, can lead into dangerous dead ends. One such dead end is the slogan of overthrowing the Islamic Republic \u201cat any cost.\u201d Historical experience teaches that such a stance objectively paves the way for forces that, under a formal change of the state form, intend to leave the capitalist mode of production and existing state apparatus untouched. Monarchist currents, advocates of referendums, and supporters of a constituent assembly differ in institutional proposals, yet share a strategic vanishing point: preventing social revolution and preserving fundamental property and power relations. The ideological unmasking of these tendencies and clear class-political demarcation from them are integral components of the present struggle.<\/p>\n

The central lesson of the uprising of January 18 is that formless\u2014even if massive and courageous\u2014participation of the masses is insufficient for victory. The history of revolutionary processes shows that broad mobilization without organization and class consciousness does not guarantee realization of the masses\u2019 interests; under certain conditions it may even become a moment in the reproduction of reactionary rule. An unorganized mass lacking positive, programmatically defined demands brings enormous material force onto the stage of history, yet without organizational forms independent of the state and collective decision-making structures, it is unable to determine the political direction of revolution. Under such conditions, initiative inevitably falls to forces already possessing higher degrees of organization\u2014forces whose goal is not radical transformation of property and power relations, but containment and redirection of the mass movement.<\/p>\n

In the phase of decision regarding the alternative form of state, this unorganized condition objectively transforms into a situation in which the masses are reduced to mere maneuvering material for reactionary formations. They provide street mobilization and bear the costs of repression, while political decision-making power and appropriation of state power lie in the hands of organized minorities whose programs stand against the interests of the working class and laboring strata. Only independent class organization\u2014in the form of council structures, militant workers\u2019 organizations, and revolutionary leadership\u2014can prevent this inversion and ensure that the material force of the masses does not serve merely as circulation of elites at the top, but is directed toward revolutionary transformation.<\/p>\n

The regime possesses no real historical perspective for durable reproduction and will necessarily be overthrown; its relative stability to date is the result of organizational weakness of the movement, absence of revolutionary leadership, and the failure of the working class to intervene as a constituted political subject. Without conscious organization, uprisings are either violently crushed or redirected into system-compatible channels.<\/p>\n

Therefore, our foremost task today is to prevent different social layers from appearing in future struggles as unorganized, formless masses lacking orientation. The aim must be formation of conscious, organized force with clear positive demands. This applies especially to the unemployed and precariously employed\u2014the segment already central in the last uprising. They do not correspond to the classical image of \u201cfactory workers,\u201d yet represent a potentially explosive material force. Repression has not extinguished this potential; it is fire beneath the ashes. Our task is to organize these strata and channel their energy into organized, goal-oriented class struggle.<\/p>\n

There is no shortcut to revolution. The networking of university, workplace, and neighborhoods is a strategic necessity. Without this connection, each sphere remains isolated and vulnerable. Students, pupils, workers, teachers, retirees, and residents of proletarian quarters each have specific fields of action. The experiences of the \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d movement show that limiting struggle to a single terrain increases the costs of repression. Progressive students must recognize that their struggle extends beyond the campus, while continuity and preservation of strength remain central. Workers must organize in workplaces, and neighborhoods can become nodes of solidarity and resistance.<\/p>\n

In a society effectively living in a state of war\u2014its economy, education system, and social services collapsed\u2014the question arises: what is the strategic task of conscious forces? Agitation, propaganda, and organization remain fundamental, yet their concrete form is decisive. Demands for justice, support for the injured, solidarity with families of the killed and imprisoned, and creation of local solidarity committees are not merely humanitarian duties, but acts of reconstructing collective trust and collective fighting capacity. It must not be allowed that families remain isolated in their suffering. It must be spread that injustice inflicted upon one family is injustice imposed upon society as a whole.<\/p>\n

Regardless of war or peace, Iranian society is in a structural and intensifying crisis that reproduces itself through every event\u2014repression or mass uprising\u2014and cannot be resolved within existing order. Under these conditions, the task of oppressed forces is to create durable forms of solidarity and organization: local solidarity committees in neighborhoods and workplaces, support for affected families, organization of students and progressive groups as part of broader struggle. Only through such progressive united organizations can the material force of the masses be directed toward real social revolution, while reactionary forces\u2014monarchists, referendum advocates, supporters of a constituent assembly\u2014are unmasked and isolated.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, systematic analysis of past experiences is indispensable: what political errors were committed in the January 18 uprising, and what organizational deficits emerged? How can adequate structures be created for different phases of uprising? An uprising is not a singular event, but a multi-stage, multi-layered process. Each phase demands specific forms of organization. The intelligent combination of open and clandestine organization, creation of small reliable communist nuclei, and preservation for decisive moments are fundamental requirements of the present period.<\/p>\n

The formation of secret communist cells is, under current crisis conditions, an urgent strategic task. These cells must be small, disciplined, firmly anchored in workplaces and living environments; in contact with the masses but vigilant regarding security risks. Their legitimacy lies in linking theory and practice and preparing for coming waves of collective resistance.<\/p>\n

Left and communist forces today stand in one of the most difficult phases of their history: socially present, yet fragmented, under pressure from the regime, oppositional bourgeoisie, and reactionary media. Yet historical perspective lies exclusively in the hands of the Communists. Only they, with a clear program for freedom, equality, council democracy, and transfer of power to the working population, can open the path\u2014provided they act as organized and disciplined force.<\/p>\n

The objective reality shows that the bloody repression of January 18 did not interrupt the cycle of class struggle. Even in the short period after the massacre, clear signs of continuity and reproduction of social resistance are visible. Intensified student struggles despite security threats prove the younger generation is not passive. The steadfastness of grieving families and political prisoners, exposing crimes and refusing to forget, represents one of the most morally grounded forms of resistance. Even limited gatherings of retirees and work stoppages demonstrate that protest against economic crisis and structural injustice cannot be fully suppressed.<\/p>\n

These indicators show: the struggle is wounded and fragmented, but alive. It flows beneath the surface. Through organizational consolidation and networking of these focal points, it can rise to a higher level.<\/p>\n

The uprising of January 18 plunged society into mourning, yet this mourning can become fertile ground for hope\u2014hope that is organized, conscious, and rooted. Our task is to transform mourning and anger into a new horizon of struggle: a struggle not based on formless masses, but on organized presence of workers, the oppressed, students, women, and pupils\u2014transforming into a social revolution for work, bread, freedom, and council government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bloody repression of the uprising of January 18. 2026, marks the entry of Iranian society into a qualitatively new phase of its historical development\u2014a phase characterized not merely by a temporary closure of public space, but by a condition of condensed social mourning, collective traumatization, internalized anger, and collective uncertainty. The apparent calm in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[76,32,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article_en","category-fe","category-fea_en"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fedaian-minority.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ofogh-300x300-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedaian-minority.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}