This paper takes up the question of historical subjects, social agency and working-class consciousness by examining a recent case, that of the role of industrial workers in the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution and in the political and social struggles of the Islamic Republic. Combining structural analysis and an interview with a founding member of a radical factory council in Tabnz, the paper examines the linkages between economic development, social structure and class politics, suggesting that cultural and economic arrangements are critical factors in understanding working-class con sciousness and politics, and workers' capacity for both independent action (i.e. as part of the industrial proletariat) and collective action (i.e. as part of a mass, revolutionary movement)
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