In the meeting "The Significance of Oral History in Empiricism of Organizational Knowledge in the Parliament", it was discussed:

Counting the Subjective Experience of Members of Parliament through Oral History

Maryam Assadi Jafari
Translated by: M.B. Khoshnevisan

2025-1-9

According to Oral History website, the second meeting out of the series of meetings of the Research Department of the Majlis (parliament) Library entitled "The Significance of Oral History in Empiricism of Organizational Knowledge in the Parliament" was held on Tuesday 4^th of Dey 1403 (December 24, 2024) in the Iranology Library Hall of the Center for Majlis Documents.
At the beginning of the meeting, “Dr. Ali Tatari” the caretaker of the Research Department of the Majlis Library said, “ Organizational oral history is a very important issue in today's world, and fortunately, in our country, since 2016, with the notification of the First Vice President's circular to government agencies, the issue has become mandatory in all organizations. That is, they have allocated a section to knowledge management, registering and recording oral history and documentation of each organization. Some organizations have taken this issue seriously. We at the Iranian Oral History Association have tried to provide as much help and advice as we can.
But in the parliament, for the first time in 1387 (2008), about 2 months after Mr. Jafarian took over the management of the Majlis library, we proposed to him to launch an oral history department of the parliament. We satisfied him in every possible way and established the oral history department under the management of the Documentation Center. I dedicated Thursdays and Fridays to interviews and about 10-11 interviews were conducted. During the second management period of the oral history department, Mr. Nazari in the Research Department, was in charge of the oral history department, which was the flourishing period of the department. About 53-54 interviews were conducted, mostly with pre-revolutionary lawmakers, and a fine collection of oral history interviews was formed, which was not continued for some reasons, but between the years 1396 and 1397 (2017 and 2018), we had discussions with Mr. Emad - the then director - and created an oral history position in the Documentation Center. It was decided, in accordance with Dr. Gholipour's announcement, that the oral history department would transfer to the Majlis Research Department and more oral history activities would be formed.”

The link between oral history and “historicity”

Then, Dr. Faezeh Tavakkoli, a member of the History Department of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, gave a speech on the topic of “Oral History of the Legislative Assembly; Liberation by Increasing the Audience’s Influence Factor”. He said, “Oral history of the parliaments is defined under political history. Because political history analyzes political events, ideas, movements, government bodies, voters, parties, leaders, and also the history of the constitution. Oral history of the parliaments has a direct connection with the history of voters and the history of legislation. Also, the parties and civil institutions that participated in different periods and the influential classes that were influential in the drafting of the constitution. Analyzing these parties, their attitudes, the ups and downs of the parliaments, the quantity and quality of laws, and their influence factor among the people - who are the main audiences for implementing laws - will have a liberating application.
Members of parliament are verbal witnesses. The new approach of oral history in interviewing verbal witnesses who were present in the context of historical discourses of society and politics can create specific, new and living documents from a historical perspective; free narratives that are carried out through two-way dialogue. Oral history can address issues that governments are reluctant to talk about. All governments that came to power four decades after the Islamic Revolution - living presidents, ministers, vice presidents - are very important and should be included in the plans of oral history researchers. In the meantime, the legislative branch also has its own special status. Oral history addresses the important task of historicism, historical awareness and the status of human in history.
The question arises whether we are all creatures of history or not. History affects us, but in another sense, we are not all historical creatures. Not all humans are aware of their historical situation, and few know history. This awareness in history is called “historicity.” Oral history has a strong connection with historicity. Oral history is a bridge between the past and the future, and this is what distinguishes classical history from oral history. This historical awareness of the ongoing developments in society will be liberating, because by analyzing all issues, we can determine the way forward.
Regarding the documentation of the Majlis lawmakers, we should note that the hidden knowledge in the experiences of the Majlis speakers and lawmakers will help future representatives. The discussion of documenting the approval of government bills, analyzing the approvals and bills that are set aside or suspended, as well as the process of approving laws in the 12 terms of the Majlis, should be analyzed. Four decades of subjective experience of lawmakers that are not raised behind the podium can be recounted through oral history.”

Significance of oral history in “Majlis empiricism”

The, “Dr. Seyed Mahmoud Sadat”, the caretaker of the Research Department and Digital Sources of the National Library of Iran, said, “Our country has seen 4 wars, 2 coups and 2 revolutions over the past 100 years, and the people who caused these events were either political activists themselves or eyewitnesses. Therefore, it is important for us to deal with oral history and be able to collect the memories of these people and leave them for posterity. Oral history is an empiricism, and it is important for government agencies in this sense, and these experiences will be passed on to future generations. In the meantime, the status of the Majlis as the legislative branch is very important in counting oral history. In Majlis, we usually encounter these outcomes: passing laws, warnings, questions, and impeachment. This is what people hear and see from the podium of the parliament, but we have no idea what happened that led to these outcomes. Why did they impeach a minister? We are not aware of behind the story, and the only thing that can help us is interviewing those people and the process that led to these issues. The representatives of each city are the bridge for expressing the problems of their constituency and are important for extracting the major issues of that constituency. For the future historian who refers to the documents, these are like separate beads of a rosary, and interviews with representatives can be the thread of the rosary. If the oral history of the Majlis is really well done, it will complement the documents of the Majlis. In Majlis, we are faced with the documents of which a large percentage are petitions; petitions that were expressed in the Majlis and are very important from the point of view of social history and the problems of the constituency. These petitions are individual and unique, written about their own problems, but they were still their problems and concerns. We know that Iranian society is an oral society and it has been like that in the past. When an individual expresses a point in writing and sends it to the parliament, it must have been an important issue. In petitions, we encounter exaggerated literature that makes the problem seem too acute to achieve their goal, but whether these petitions are really the problems of the constituency or not becomes clear in an interview with the representative of that city.
The Majlis lawmakers serve in parliament for 4 or 8 years, and we rarely have people who serve long terms in parliament. These people leave and new people come in who are not familiar with the structure of the parliament and have to start from scratch again, and by the time this familiarity is achieved, they have completed half of their term of office. If the experience of the members in the committees, the floor of the parliament, etc., is documented through oral history, it will help new members of parliament to gain those experiences through reading books and not want to go down that path again.
In each period, oral history is formed on the discourse of that period. The vocabulary used is specific to that period. Based on interviews with representatives of each period, it is possible to extract the discourses of each period of the parliament and the keywords related to it. Perhaps what is mentioned in the details of the negotiations is different from what the representative mentions in the oral history. The most important political event that occurs in each period is the change of governments through elections. In the parliamentary elections, a representative is elected, but what process was followed until this representative was elected? And what coalitions were formed, this can be determined through oral history. Of course, these angles may be possible to express over time. Also, people from different cities, ethnicities, and minorities are present in the Majlis. How do these people interact with each other? Oral history will also help clarify the coalitions of the parliament.

Necessity of recording daily notes of lawmakers

As the third speaker, “Dr. Abolfazl Hassan Abadi”, the Head of the Center for Manuscripts of Astan Qods Razavi said, “The issue of knowledge management and the history of organizations has been accepted for about 5-6 years, and many institutions such as banks, football teams, and government agencies have started recording their oral histories. Now, it can be said that after the revolution and the war, the third important area of ​​oral history is dedicated to organizational and institutional oral history, which is still new.
Organizational history is defined in three areas: “organizational memory”, “organizational experience” and “organizational knowledge”, which are considered the three main components and are also discussed in all projects around the world. Which of these areas are we going to reach in an oral history project? Each of these components enters a higher level in oral history. The type of questions is different and the output is also different. Of course, there is no correct definition or distinction between these three areas. The reality is that there is no methodology designed for it in the world. Basically, oral history is an unwritten field of study and is partly related to industry and the field of social history. I did not find anything with this title. If we are to define any project in principle, decisions must be made in these three areas. To do this, we have a few key questions: “Who should be interviewed?” and “How should documentation be done?” Once these questions are answered, decisions can be made.
There have always been differences of taste in the world. Now, after two decades of activity, they have come to the conclusion that when the history of an organization is to be written, it must be based on knowledge of official information - including circulars and documents - and unofficial information, and these three components must be considered simultaneously.
The history of the Majlis is not the history of the lawmakers. It is the past history of the Majlis, in which the official information of the Majlis should be considered. Usually, in organizational histories in the general sense, there is never any targeted subject. That is, you should not define an objective. The essence is the entirety of an organization, its structure and function; how an organization was formed, developed and flourished, and how its performance was.
The issue of knowledge is a step further. In the case of the parliament, you should use official information in this area. If we consider the law as knowledge - that is, the summary of structured information of a number of people - the behind-the-scenes discussions are the memory of the parliament that must be recorded. We should take a combination of both - official and unofficial information. The book "The Halal Vote" containing the work and non-work diary notes of Mojtaba Rahmandoost, a representative of Tehran in the ninth term, was a good example of what has been done. In this book, he even raises behind-the-scene issues, which of course needs courage. Because he has exposed himself to judgment and criticism. I suggest that you do not simply enter into interviews with representatives. You can suggest that representatives take notes on some topics. Also, there is no information about the performance and ethics of many representatives, and we only have official information. These points should also be considered.”

Oral history; a factor for having access to the model of human management sources

“Dr. Mohsen Kazemi” a researcher and the Secretary of Iranian Oral History Association was the last speaker of the meeting and dealt with different dimensions of knowledge and status of oral history in it and said, “Part of the foundation of oral history is experience. In the generality of this subject, it is clear that we are dealing with the non-existence, existence and being of an organization. The path that started from a series of losses and led to the examination of needs, has made existences and changes and sometimes has gone towards destruction. In all these processes, oral history can be a visual eye for the achievements, ups and downs and experiences, to be registered and recorded with the aim of having a future and protecting the future.
Oral history cannot move towards science and determine the path of development and progress of a science, but oral history deals with the process of knowledge formation, which is a cognitive issue. With this description, the subject of oral history can move towards its collective function.
Every organization is created with its ideas, goals, equipment, technologies, expertise, knowledge, organization, and structure, and all of these factors contribute to the success of the organization. Oral history also seeks to influence the factors of success. According to new standards, organizational knowledge is the ability to influence the factors that make an organization successful.
Part of the examples of knowledge is the experiences of employees, which does not just include the memories of managers; all the actors namely policymakers, managers and employees are present. Another part of it is technical knowledge, managerial, technical, systemic, organizational and information knowledge. Information is the cognitive domain. Cognitive domains include recognition of competitors and one's own capabilities, processes and systems. The collection of these factors, when used hand in hand, creates modern knowledge.
Regarding the classification of knowledge, we should say that "tacit knowledge" is an intuitive knowledge that is mainly formed in the minds of the actors and is obtained during the service. One of the tasks of oral history is to enumerate this knowledge. "Revealed knowledge" is knowledge that has the potential to be revealed and has the potential to be actualized. Oral history also helps to actualize it. In the meantime, oral history acts as a facilitator. "Embedded knowledge" is knowledge that is obtained as a result of the mental and intellectual creativity of managers and actors. There is no specific order for it in advance, but in order to face problems, actors achieve these creativities and take it as a role model. "Procedural knowledge" that we mainly encounter in courts of law, which is created according to a process and procedure that has been formed so far. "Strategic knowledge" is the knowledge of recognizing time and measuring the situation; that is, it is the same as being a child of one's own time. This knowledge creates turbulence within an organization, has effects around it, and causes a continuous knowledge for the organization. This also needs more work in oral history. When oral history addresses this issue, it has its own impact on the factors of organizational success. Increasing empowerment, talent acquisition, compensation, and training of human resources are among the effects of oral history. The next outcome of oral history is transparency, which is an important factor in the survival of an organization. It combats many harms and corruptions, and this transparency is achieved due to the function of freeing information. The next outcome of oral history is the accumulation of information, which is achieved through the defeat of information monopoly, and oral history does this. The next outcome is historical and identical memory, which documents the path taken through oral history. The next outcome is reviewing and revising with a view to the future. History has only been about the past since it was written, but it has looked to the future. All of this will promote a sense of trust in the organization. When you go after different actors from different ranks, you convey a sense of trust to these actors.
The empirical study of organizational knowledge through oral history looks forward and shows the path taken and the ups and downs to prevent similar events in the future. With oral history, it is possible to achieve a model of human resource management. Oral history makes organizational actors at all levels count. When they gain that sense of trust, they work more willingly, which improves productivity.
Abandoned organizations like gendarmerie have been merged with other organizations. Organizations like The Cultural Revolution Headquarters that have changed their identity or dynamic and living organizations that may have temporary changes but return to their original state, all of these have the ability to examine knowledge in oral history. The point that has been neglected is that the legal system is a product of oral history that needs to be clarified. If the Majlis Library can clarify this, it will be a new procedure for everyone. Because we do not have any specific and approved order and there is always room for disagreement between many creators and narrators. We hope that the Majlis can foster a procedure by addressing this issue.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Ali Tatari summed up the subjects discussed in the meeting, and questions and answers were exchanged among the attendees.