The structures of the state and society have undergone enormous transformations in Iran particu-larly in the last two centuries. Alone in the 20th century Iran experienced two important revolutions in 1906 and 1979. From a comparative and a historical sociological perspectives, in this seminar we will try to conceptualize long-term social and political changes in Iran from a less differentiated to a more complex society. Theoretically, this example should help to establish processual models of thinking to come to grips with long-term social and political changes in differently structured societies.