Download or read book Shi ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran written by Ibrahim Moussawi and published by Saqi. This book was released on 2012-01-16 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its emergence in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has remained a conundrum for observers, particularly in the West. Shi'ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran examines the fundaments of Iran's Islamic governance and asks the pivotal question: can democracy and Islam cohere?Addressing Wilayat al-Faqih, or rule by the jurisprudent - the theory upon which the Islamic Republic was constructed - he asserts that the system upholds both individual and communal rights, and provides scope for citizens to express their interests. Moussawi draws on the history and theological underpinnings of Shi'i Islam to argue that in today's Iran, politi and religion are neither rigid nor in diametric opposition. Exhaustively researched, Shi'ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran marks an invaluable addition to the growing oeuvre of books on Iran.
Download or read book Shi ism and the Democratisation Process in Iran with a Focus on Wilayat Al Faqih written by Ibrahim Ali El Moussawi and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Democracy in Iran written by Ali Gheissari and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-24 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Ali Gheissari and Vali Nasr look at the political history of Iran in the modern era, and offer an in-depth analysis of the prospects for democracy to flourish there. After having produced the only successful Islamist challenge to the state, a revolution, and an Islamic Republic, Iran is now poised to produce a genuine and indigenous democratic movement in the Muslim world. Democracy in Iran is neither a sudden development nor a western import, and Gheissari and Nasr seek to understand why democracy failed to grow roots and lost ground to an autocratic Iranian state.
Download or read book Sh sm and Constitutionalism in Iran written by ʻAbd al-Hādī Ḥāʼirī and published by Brill Archive. This book was released on 1977 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY IN IRAN C written by Fakhreddin AZIMI and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In a book that provides essential context for understanding modern Iran, Fakherddin Azami present a trenchant narrative- of the history of Iran over the last century, covering political-constitutional developments, society, civic culture, ideology, foreign relations, the economy, and the confrontation between traditionalism and modernity." "In an original account of the revolution of 1978-1979, which overthrew the monarchy, Azimi underlines the salience of democratic aspirations and shows how the rise of the Islamic Republic has boosted the deeply rooted democratic urges in the country." "Based on wide-ranging, original research, this probing and passionate book offers vital historical analysis and addresses issues that remain profoundly relevant to the lives of contemporary Iranians, Equally important, Azimi dispels many misunderstandings about democracy, civic life, and Islamism in Middle Eastern and Muslim societies."--Jacket.
Download or read book The History of Shi ism and Iranian Shi ism written by Sophie Duhnkrack and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2010 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 85, Ben Gurion University, course: Iran, language: English, abstract: Ervand Abrahamian introduces his work Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic with a discussion of two terms interesting for an analysis of the Islamic Revolution, particularly considering Western images of Khomeini and his movement: fundamentalism and populism. These ideologically loaded concepts depict the book's central thesis, namely that fundamentalism is not an appropriate term for describing Khomeini, his ideas and movement. According to Abrahamian, it alludes "religious inflexibility, ... political traditionalism, ... social conservatism, the centrality of scriptural-doctrinal principles, [and] ... the rejection of the modern world." He instead presents populism as a more apposite term, which "connotes attempts made by nation-states to enter that world." The scholars Daniele Albertazzi and Duncam McDonnell define 'populism' in a widely accepted definition as an ideology which pits a virtuous and homogeneous people against a set of elites and dangerous 'others' who are together depicted as depriving (or attempting to deprive) the sovereign people of their rights, values, prosperity, identity and voice. Essentially approving of Abrahamian's cited thesis, this essay attempts to illustrate that the Islamic Revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, does not represent a movement driven by "religious fundamentalism" or "fanaticism," but the Iranian way of emancipation from domestic and foreign oppression and domination, materialized by the Shah and the West. This thesis will be developed through exploring the Shi'ite history and especially its appearance in Iran. Furthermore it will continually explore the religion's revolutionary and supposedly fanatical characteristics and its contribution to the 1979 revolution, which, as
Download or read book Islam and Dissent in Postrevolutionary Iran written by Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2008-04-08 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Islamic Republic of Iran came into being in 1979, the result of a radical revolution that overhauled not only the foundations of Iranian society, religion and politics, but also our understanding of the role of religion in modern government. Here Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi takes us on an enlightening journey, showing that contrary to widespread assumptions the Iranian revolution opened up the public sphere to competing interpretations of Islam, with profound consequences for the nature of democratic reform. Ghamari-Tabrizi sheds new light on the contingencies within which the new regime evolved, and traces the steps by which the clerical establishment sought to consolidate power during the immediate postrevolutionary period. Contrary to the received view, he argues that the ruling class failed to institute a theocratic regime, and, more significantly, unintentionally established the grounds for civic challenges to government policies underwritten by official interpretations of Islam. Far from being the exclusive preserve of high-ranking seminarians, interpretations of doctrinal Islam in contemporary Iran now form a contested, varied and negotiated discourse in which lay theologians, intellectuals, lawyers and social activists are active and influential interlocutors. Against the background of this unexpected development, Ghamari-Tabrizi addresses the early and late works of Abdolkarim Soroush, an Iranian philosopher who has become one of the most influential Muslim intellectuals in recent years, a leading force behind Iran's pro-democracy movement and vocal critic of the state. Through a close reading of Soroush's evolving ideas, and of the works of Ali Shari`ati, and by tracing the links between Muslim intellectual critique and the realpolitik of postrevolutionary power struggles, Ghamari-Tabrizi offers nothing less than a pathbreaking reassessment of the Iranian revolution. In so doing, he demonstrates how democratic transformation in Muslim societies has taken place by means of a public engagement with the teachings of Islam and highlights a most significant, if unintended, consequences of the Iranian revolution - namely the secularization of Islam. Drawing on a wealth of sources and with powerful insights, 'Islam and Dissent' is essential for an understanding of the Muslim world today and of the new relationships between religion, culture and political power visible across the globe.
Download or read book Parliament and the Process of Democratization in the Islamic Republic of Iran written by Ali Pedram and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the quest for democracy has become a compelling issue in many developing countries. Iran is no exception to this. However, many argue that democracy is unlikely to emerge in Iran in the near future. This assumption is based on the strong presence of Islam in Iranian society, and a supposed intrinsic incompatibility between Islam and democracy. This book challenges this assumption by examining both the current state of democracy in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the democratization process currently underway within the country. The book examines the role of Shi'a Islam in shaping and determining socio-political realities in Iran. As well, it analyzes the Constitution and the institutional equilibrium of the Islamic Republic, and it discusses how factional politics have evolved and become a conduit for internal reform. The book argues that, in reality, the modern nation-state has incorporated functions and expectations that make democracy not merely one option anymore. The Western-liberal model of democracy is not the sole criterion for perceiving good governance. Non-Western attempts to reform, such as those in Iran, must not be seen as pre-determined to fail simply because reform or democracy is not indigenous.
Download or read book The Mystery of Contemporary Iran written by Mahnaz Shirali and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-25 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scope and content: "More than thirty years after Islam Republic's inception, the mystery remains. Nearly every day, Iranian leaders surprise the world; doubts remain as to the precise nature of a regime that calls itself both a Republic and Islamic but is neither one nor the other. While the Ayatollahs' unpopularity reaches unprecedented heights, their power seems more secure. The paradoxes weigh heavily and judgments diverge. While public opinion wonders how an archaic regime such as the mollahs could survive, some observers speak of Iran's modernization and of the clergy's ability to reconcile itself with politics. Understanding this specific modernization process that began with the Constitutional Revolution is difficult and raises a number of questions. How and why could ideological Islam dominate Iranian society since the late 1970s? How could it gain power and overcome the reform molded by the Constitutional Revolution? How did it gain influence in Iran and in the rest of the Muslim world? Mahnaz Shirali analyzes twentieth-century Iranian history to understand the role of the Shiite clergy in the social and political organization of a country that began its modernization. What enabled the clergy to take over politics and gain control of the State? How did it replace other prevailing political forces? Studying the past hundred years of Iranian history reveals the force of a religious conservatism opposing political modernity and repelling the slightest attempt at democracy by Iranians, thanks to constant metamorphoses. This book studies the curse of the Shiite clergy on political modernity. It is one of the most in-depth criticisms of the ideological Islam imposed on Teheran"--Provided by publisher
Download or read book Ayatollah Sistani and the Democratization of Post Ba athist Iraq written by Babak Rahimi and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Politics of Collective Mourning Negotiating Power at the Intersection of Shi ism Gender and Popular Culture in Iran written by Esha Momeni and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My dissertation, The Politics of Collective Mourning: Negotiating Power at the Intersection of Shi'ism, Gender, and Popular Culture in Iran, examines the social and political role of Shi'i collective mourning rituals, specifically nohe rituals, in the post-revolutionary Iran. These rituals commemorate the death of the Shi'i Imams and are essential to Shi'i cultural paradigms and identities. Moreover, they have played an important role in the legitimation of the Iranian state since their popularization in the sixteenth century. Although historically, women have participated in public mourning sessions in different forms, as audience and as storytellers, mourning rituals are spaces within which masculinity is defined and practiced and homosocial relationships between men are developed. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, these mourning ceremonies have gone through major semantic and performative shifts. In recent years, the state has started the process of institutionalizing the mourning rituals and groups by creating governmental structures to organize, supervise, and surveille them. In the past decade, with the financial support of the state, mourning groups have doubled in number, making up the largest cultural and advertisement network in the Shi'i world. In reaction, a grassroot movement began that departed from the rituals' traditional manners in both content and form to serve as a public political medium and voice radical criticism of political structures and economic conditions. Despite their cultural, social, and political significance, nohe rituals remain understudied in the scholarly literature. Examining the radical semantic and performative changes in the practices of these rituals, my research seeks to understand how the negotiations and confrontations between the contemporary Iranian state and citizens that take place at the site of mourning rituals, are informed by gender, class, and politics.
Download or read book Iran Islam and Democracy written by Ali M. Ansari and published by Chatham House (Formerly Riia). This book was released on 2000 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In tracing the historical roots of political development in Iran, Dr Ansari argues that what is taking place is an intellectual synthesis of ideas, drawing from both Western and traditional Iranian norms. He goes on to discuss the possible consequences for Iran and the region.
Download or read book Religion and politics in Iran Shi ism from quietism to revolution written by Bert G. Fragner and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book States and Social Revolutions written by Theda Skocpol and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-09-29 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State structures, international forces, and class relations: Theda Skocpol shows how all three combine to explain the origins and accomplishments of social-revolutionary transformations. Social revolutions have been rare but undeniably of enormous importance in modern world history. States and Social Revolutions provides a new frame of reference for analyzing the causes, the conflicts, and the outcomes of such revolutions. It develops a rigorous, comparative historical analysis of three major cases: the French Revolution of 1787 through the early 1800s, the Russian Revolution of 1917 through the 1930s, and the Chinese Revolution of 1911 through the 1960s. Believing that existing theories of revolution, both Marxist and non-Marxist, are inadequate to explain the actual historical patterns of revolutions, Skocpol urges us to adopt fresh perspectives. Above all, she maintains that states conceived as administrative and coercive organizations potentially autonomous from class controls and interests must be made central to explanations of revolutions.
Download or read book Who Rules Iran written by Wilfried Buchta and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Road to Democracy in Iran written by Akbar Ganjī and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A famous Iranian dissident calls for universal human rights and democracy based on our common humanity. Akbar Ganji, called by some "Iran's most famous dissident," was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But, troubled by the regime's repressive nature, he became an investigative journalist in the 1990s, writing for Iran's pro-democracy newspapers. Most notably, he traced the murders of dissident intellectuals to Iran's secret service. In 2000, Ganji was arrested, sentenced to six years in prison, and banned from working as a journalist. His eighty-day hunger strike during his last year in prison mobilized the international human rights community. The Road to Democracy in Iran, Ganji's first book in English, demonstrates his lifelong commitment to human rights and democracy. A passionate call for universal human rights and the right to democracy from a Muslim perspective, it lays out the goals and means of Iran's democracy movement, why women's rights trump some interpretations of Islamic law, and how the West can help promote democracy in Iran (he strongly opposes U.S. intervention) and other Islamic countries. Throughout the book Ganji argues consistently for universal rights based on our common humanity (and he believes the world's religions support that idea). But his arguments never veer into abstraction; they are rooted deeply in the realities of life in Islamic countries, and offer a clear picture of the possibilities for and obstacles to improving human rights and promoting democracy in the Muslim world. Since his release from prison in March 2006, Akbar Ganji has been traveling outside Iran, meeting with intellectuals and activists in the international human rights community. He is currently living in the United States.
Download or read book Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran written by Shahrough Akhavi and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1980-01-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indispensable for understanding the recent conflicts in Iran, Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran provides a political history of the fluctuating relationships between the Islamic clergy and Iranian government since 1925. How different factions of the clergy, or ulama first lost and then regained a powerful position in Iran is the subject of this book. Akhavi analyzes how various factions within the clergy have responded to the government's efforts to encourage modernization and secularization, giving particular attention to the changes in the madrasahs, or theological colleges. He examines the main themes of the AyatullaH Khymayni's book, Islamic Government, and concludes by examining the alignments among the clergy in the past that indicate how they may develop in the future.
