From Iranian studies to studies of Iranians in the United States

MORE THAN ANY OTHER FACTOR, THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION OF 1978-79 and its aftermath have contributed to the growth of the Iranian diaspora population worldwide. The revolution precipitated the exodus of Iranian exiles or political refugees,' and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran further discouraged the return of many Iranians already abroad. As a result, by about 1990, 637,500 Iranians were enumerated in official national censuses of the following ten countries on four continents: U.S., Canada, West Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, France, Norway, Australia, Israel, and Japan. With an Iranian population-defined as persons either born in Iran or of Iranian ancestry-of 285,000 in 1990, the U.S. contained nearly half (45%) of the Iranians living in the above-mentioned Western and Asian countries.2 This overwhelming concentration, an availability of good data on immigrants (including Iranians), and a number of Iranian students who have become social scientists in the U.S., have encouraged research on this group. Scholarly attention in the U.S. has been redirected from an exclusive preoccupation with Iran to a broader interest in Iranian immigrants, hence the title of this article. I would like here to provide an overview of the emerging field of IranianAmerican studies to contextualize the articles that follow in this issue. This article begins with a brief up-to-date review of Iranian immigration to the U.S., and then, using the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Censuses, highlights changes in the basic demographic, social, and economic characteristics of this population. It then turns to a review of the existing research and writings on Iranians in the U.S., and concludes by pointing out areas where further research is needed to fill in the gaps.