Why did unemployed young people who had moved from rural areas join the 1978 protests?

Young people who migrated from rural areas to cities like Tehran joined the 1978 protests primarily due to the failure of the White Revolution to provide the economic stability and support systems that had been promised.123

While the government’s land reform program initially encouraged rural workers to move to cities in search of employment in the booming construction industry, the state failed to establish a comprehensive support infrastructure to replace the role of traditional landowners. Consequently, these migrants faced significant hardships, including:23

• Economic Disenchantment: Many found themselves unemployed or underemployed, struggling with high prices and poor living conditions.123
• Social Isolation: The migration process caused the deterioration of the extended family, which had served as the traditional support system in Iranian culture.23
• Cultural Dislocation: These new urban residents felt disenchanted by what they perceived as the cultural vacuum of modern urban Iran.1

Facing these economic and social pressures, these young migrants turned to the ulama for guidance, eventually joining the broad opposition against the shah’s regime to protest its perceived corruption, incompetence, and excesses.14