Democracy in Modern Iran

Mirsepassi, Ali

doi:10.18574/nyu/9780814795644.001.0001

Cited by 43 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…In this sense, what lends 'public spaces' a 'political' dimension is that while they have "increasingly becom[e] the domain of …state power" 50 -which "regulates their use [and] mak[es] them "orderly"" 51 through a host of laws and regulations-they have also become, simultaneously and contingent on the will of the masses, "[loci for] "shaming" the authorities." 52 In this way, and most vexing for the latter, they have been turned into spaces of resistance and sites of political contestation and social negation of the status quo. Thus, it is hardly surprising that Iran's Azadi Square (2009), Egypt's Tahrir Square (2011 -2012) and Turkey's Taksim Square (2013) should emerge as chief signifiers for mass discontent during the recent spate of uprisings in which each figured prominently.…”

Section: Social Movement Theories and Specificities Of Mena Oppositiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Protestation and Mobilization in the Middle East and North Africa: A Foucauldian Model

Pourmokhtari

2017

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ABSTRACT:Michel Foucault has inspired a rich body of work in the field of critical social theory and the social sciences in general. Few scholars working in the area of social movement studies, however, have applied a Foucauldian perspective to examining the twin phenomena of social mobilization and collective action. This may stem, in large part, from the commonly held assumption that Foucault had far more to say about 'regimes of power' than ever about mobilization and collective action or contention politics in general. Be that as it may, a close interrogation of his work reveals the broad contours of a theoretical framework for analyzing social movements whose chief merit lies in a sensitivity to the sociopolitical context within which oppositional movements form, develop and conduct their operations.This paper aims at delineating what a Foucauldian model of social movements would entail, with specific reference to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region traditionally consigned to the margins of social movement studies. An enquiry of this kind is important because, as I argue, the leading mainstream social movement theories that have been applied to contemporary MENA cases invariably fall short of fully elucidating the phenomenon of mass mobilization. Specifically, leading mainstream theories are prone to certain universalistic assumptions and 'West-centric' orientations that render them incapable of accounting for the specificities of MENA cases. I shall demonstrate how a Foucauldian perspective on social movements can bypass the problem of applicability to the MENA region by mapping out a theoretical framework whose chief merit lies in a sensitivity to the sociopolitical context within which oppositional movements form, develop and conduct their operations. At the same time, I argue that a Foucauldian model transcends social movement theories with their linear conception of social and political progress, their exclusivist understanding of sociopolitical 'development' and 'modernist' assumptions by advancing an account of 'multiple modernities'.

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Section: Social Movement Theories and Specificities Of Mena Oppositiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Protestation and Mobilization in the Middle East and North Africa: A Foucauldian Model

Pourmokhtari

2017

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“…The thinkers who were active in this circle not only evolved to rethink the notion of sacredness and totalitarianism in politics and to accept the challenge of religious pluralism and the rule of law in the Iranian context, but they also disseminated these insights, enabling their readership to change the quality of debate in the public sphere. 48 In the early 1990s, a docile public sphere became energized by the questions and challenges that post-Islamists were putting to the advocates of revolutionary and traditionalist Islam. The public was given access to a productive debate on the relationship between religion and modernity resulting in an opening up of their religiosity.…”

Section: Modernization Of Faith: Post-islamists Work Towards Makimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Green's Non‐Violent Ethos: The Roots of Non‐Violence in the Iranian Democratic Movement

Shabani¹

2013

Constellations

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“…He was undoubtedly the most important figure in the construction of the idea of clerical guardianship (Farhi 2003, 58). Mirsepassi (2003) also mentioned that he has forced the religious tradition into a situation where it does not belong. Ayatollah Khomeini was described by his biographer Baqer Moin as a "skilled practitioner of clerical politics," a "master tactician," and a "supreme strategist" (Sabet 2014, 39).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping a good society model in Ayatollah Khomeini’s religious political thought: Possibilities and challenges

Hasanpour,

Rabbani

2024

Critical Research on Religion

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This article identifies the components of a good society in the thought of Ayatollah Khomeini. Over several decades, he experienced a voluntary and compulsory odyssey-like journey, the result of which was theorizing about a good society and Islamic government. From the young Ayatollah Khomeini to the late “Imam” Khomeini, several images are attributed to him. We find that the good society can be realized according to pure Mohammadian Islam and religious democracy. We claim that Khomeini’s thought evolved in the face of the Other and this Other has changed the perception of his identity and thought over time. This study shows that in a historical continuum, there are two breaks along the religious-political thought of Khomeini. Contrary to the common orthodox image of him, we claim that despite the contradictions, his thought has the capacity to reconcile Islam and modernity in a new religious-political framework. Nevertheless, one can observe the transformation, the elitist view, and the multiplicity of positions in his political, cultural, and social opinions.

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Democracy in Modern Iran

Cited by 43 publications

References 0 publications

Protestation and Mobilization in the Middle East and North Africa: A Foucauldian Model

Protestation and Mobilization in the Middle East and North Africa: A Foucauldian Model

The Green's Non‐Violent Ethos: The Roots of Non‐Violence in the Iranian Democratic Movement

Mapping a good society model in Ayatollah Khomeini’s religious political thought: Possibilities and challenges

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