Synopses & Reviews
Examines modernity in the context of Islamic Fundamentalism and the Iranian Revolution.
Review
"...an excellent addition to the on-going debates in sociology and the Middle East." Contemporary Sociology
Synopsis
Ali Mirsepassi explores Eurocentric assumptions about modernity and Islamic Fundamentalism. He argues the Iranian Revolution was not a clash between modernity and tradition but an attempt to accommodate modernity within a sense of authentic Islamic identity and culture and assesses the future of secularism and democracy in the Middle East.
Table of Contents
Introduction: modernity and âcultureâ; 1. Western narratives of modernity; 2. Reconciling with the Westâs âotherâ; 3. Crisis of secularism and the rise of political Islam; 4. Islam as a modernizing ideology: Al-e Ahmad and Shariâati; 5. German intellectuals and the culture of modernity; 6. The tragedy of the Iranian left; 7. Modernities of our time; Notes; References; Index.