اصفهان از نگاه يک غير ايراني

سلام
پس از خواندن مطلب زييايي که کيوان از ناصرخسرو در مورد اصفهان آورده بود ياد ايميلي افتادم که مدتي قبل دريافت کرده بودم.
نويسنده نامه يک نفر آمريکايي است که توي يک موسسه برآورد ريسک (حميد ستار که پارسي دوست دارد بخواند : خطرکرد) کار مي کند و ... بقيه را از نوشته‌اش متوجه مي شويد.
البته به تحليلي که ارائه کرده بايد بيشتر از ديد ژورناليستي نگاه کرد تا يک گزارش علمي ولي به هر حال به عنوان نگاه يک فرد غيرايراني به ايران قابل توجه است.

Dear Mr Fatemi,

I am a political economist, specialising on Iran, and am currently doing some research on comparing the political, economic and social structures of Tehran and Isfahan. I found your name and website on the Internet, and am interested in the research that you did a few years' ago on the economy of Isfahan province, as well as in your current ideas about how the political economies of the two cities differ.

In my view, Isfahan, rightly or wrongly, has a reputation for political and economic liberalism, thanks perhaps to Karbaschi's mayorship of Isfahan and then Tehran in the 1980s and 1990s, and also thanks to Ayatollah Taheri-Isfahani in Isfahan. While the central government has attempted to impose greater control over Isfahan - for example through the appointment of Ayatollah Mazaheri - I think that Isfahan has been able to maintain this politically liberal identity. Tehran, as the seat of government and the receiver of oil revenues, is more politically conservative, I think than Isfahan. Certainly, South Tehran's religious conservatism seems to weigh heavier over Tehran than rural and suburban populations do over Isfahan.

I'm also interested in the contrast between Isfahan's economic base and Tehran's. Tehran has obviously been highly dependent on oil revenues since the 1950s, using the money to bind the rest of Iran to the center. But as a capital city is has also become a centre of finance, whether official or through bazaar lending. Isfahan's economy seems to be based on agriculture, as well as on a substantial industrial base - steel, for example - built in the 1970s. I understand that Isfahan's economy has suffered since the 1980s, with severe water shortages and industrial inefficiencies affecting growth.

Finally, I'm interested in the similarities and differences between the bazaars in Tehran and Isfahan. The Isfahan bazaar has been a good supporter of 'liberal' clerics - Taheri and Montazeri, for example - over the past few years, though I wonder if this is far more because they are local, rather than because of the quality of their thought. The Tehran bazaar has become fragmented since the revolution, some of it migrating north to more formal business ventures. Some Tehran bazaaris have clearly become more associated with the regime's 'pragmatic' wing, with its receptive attitude to foreign capital. Other Tehran bazaaris are more traditional in their attitudes towards economic liberalisation, and seem to support the more conservative members of the regime.

I wonder if you agree or disagree with my contrast between the two cities, and I would be very grateful if you could suggest any further aspects of Isfahan and Tehran to compare in my study. I'd also be grateful if you could suggest any sources for my enquiry. Thank you very much.

فقط دو تا نکته:
اول اينکه من فکر مي کنم که شهرهاي بزرگ ايران و به خصوص طبقه نو شهرنشين آنها که از دهه ۴۰ و به خصوص ۵۰ شکل گرفتند کمابيش مشابه اند و در مقايسه اصفهان و تهران هم من فکر مي کنم اصفهان هم از لحاظ رفتار فردي مردم و به خصوص طبقه بازار و هم از لحاظ جغرافياي سياسي بيشتر مي تواند پايگاه محافظه کاري قلمداد بشود تا تهران.
دوم اينکه آشنايي نويسنده با ايران و فرهنگ ايراني کاملا پيداست مثلا دقيقا مي دانسته توي اين اسم طولاني من وقتي مي خواهد من را خطاب کند بهترين قسمت کدام است. علاوه بر آنکه مثل خودمان ترجيح داده است توي اولين ايميل من را با اسم فاميل خطاب کند.
ضمنا مطلب بحث برانگيزي که قول داده بودم اين نيست ... پس همچنان منتظر باشيد.
سربلند باشيد.