Synopses & Reviews
Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? In Democracy in Modern Iran, Ali Mirsepassi maintains that it is possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. Rather, he provides new perspective on how such a political and social transformation could take place, arguing that the key to understanding the integration of Islam and democracy lies in concrete social institutions rather than pre-conceived ideas, the every day experiences rather than abstract theories. Mirsepassi, an Iranian native, provides a rare inside look into the country, offering a deep understanding of how Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq can and will embrace democracy.
Democracy in Modern Iran challenges readers to think about Islam and democracy critically and in a far more nuanced way than is done in black-and-white dichotomies of Islam vs. Democracy, or Iran vs. the West. This essential volume contributes important insights to current discussions, creating a more complex conception of modernity in the Eastern world and, with it, Mirsepassi offers to a broad Western audience a more accurate, less clichéd vision of Irans political reality.
Review
"This is an important book, moving beyond describing and categorizing Iranian intellectual trajectories over the modern era and towards a judicious intervention in that debate itself... One cannot but applaud the effort to instill a "practice what you preach" ethic into the Iranian intellectual
zeitgeist."
“The author convincingly argues for a view of democracy based not on ‘objective logic,’ but rather on pragmatic lines...[Mirsepassi] does deliver a variety of useful perspectives on the nature of the contemporary hostility.”
“Democracy in Modern Iran, however, is much more than simply a commentary on Iranian politics. In essence, it is a work of comparative political theory that examines the relationship between culture and democracy.”
“An extraordinary work that provides an invaluable and much-needed historical, intellectual, and cultural context for developing an understanding of Iran’s society and how Islam has affected political change in that nation. This is a meticulously researched analysis with an original interpretation of the evolving events in Iran; in short, a major volume to be welcomed and celebrated.”
Synopsis
New perspectives on Iran's relationship to democracy
Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? In Democracy in Modern Iran, Ali Mirsepassi maintains that it is possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. Rather, he provides new perspective on how such a political and social transformation could take place, arguing that the key to understanding the integration of Islam and democracy lies in concrete social institutions rather than pre-conceived ideas, the every day experiences rather than abstract theories. Mirsepassi, an Iranian native, provides a rare inside look into the country, offering a deep understanding of how Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq can and will embrace democracy.
Democracy in Modern Iran challenges readers to think about Islam and democracy critically and in a far more nuanced way than is done in black-and-white dichotomies of Islam vs. Democracy, or Iran vs. the West. This essential volume contributes important insights to current discussions, creating a more complex conception of modernity in the Eastern world and, with it, Mirsepassi offers to a broad Western audience a more accurate, less clich d vision of Iran's political reality.
Synopsis
What is postmodernism? What are the reasons for its attractiveness? In Defense of History is a compelling challenge to postmodern fashion, written by new intellectuals on the left who are reviving historical materialism as an alternative.
About the Author
Ellen Meiksins Wood is co-editor of
Monthly Review; author of many books, including
The Pristine Culture of Capitalism (1991) and
Democracy Against Capitalism (1995); and co-editor of
In Defense of History (1995).
John Bellamy Foster is editor of Monthly Review. He is professor of sociology at the University of Oregon and author of The Ecological Revolution, The Great Financial Crisis (with Fred Magdoff), Critique of Intelligent Design (with Brett Clark and Richard York), Ecology Against Capitalism, Marxs Ecology, and The Vulnerable Planet.