Intellectual Trends in Twentieth-Century Iran: A Critical Survey

“This book is the first collection of its kind.  It brings together articles by historians, sociologists and political scientists as well as contributions by intellectuals and essayists currently engaged in the intellectual scene in Iran, thus outlining not only a range of intellectual concerns and trends in the tumultuous 20th century but also presenting authentic insights from a number of present-day participants.”–Ahmad Ashraf, Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University Intellectual Trends in Twentieth-Century Iran , a collection of essays by journalists and Iranian scholars based in both North America and the Middle East, examines the major intellectual trends in twentieth-century Iran and explores the role that the intellectual has played in shaping the debates and political culture in both prerevolutionary and postrevolutionary Iran.  The issues discussed in this collection are among the most provocative in contemporary Iran and range from the hermeneutics of Mojtahed-Shabestari to the movement of the reformist press to clerical discourses on the subject of women’s rights.  Additionally, Intellectual Trends discusses broader issues such as Iranian liberalism and the relationship between tradition and modernity with a depth and insight that is essential in understanding the diverse issues facing a contemporary Middle East.  Together, the collection provides a valuable account and analysis of the intellectual currents in this pivotal state across the last century. Contents
Introduction
Part I. Intellectual Discourse in Pahlavi Iran
1. The Ambivalent Modernity of Iranian Intellectuals, by Mehrzad Boroujerdi
2. Khalil The Odd Intellectual Out, by Homa Katouzian
3. Ahmad Shamlu and the Contingency of Our Future, by Hamid Dabashi and Golriz Dahdel
4. The Discourse of “Authentic Culture” in Iran of the 1960s and 1970s, by Negin Nabavi
Part II. Intellectual Expressions and Dynamics in Postrevolutionary Iran
5. Crossing the Iranian Intellectuals after the Islamic Revolution, by Morad Saghafi
6. Religious Intellectuals and Political Action in the Reform Movement, by Hamidreza Jalaeipour
7. Improvising in Transgressive Politics of the Reformist Press in Postrevolutionary Iran, by Farideh Farhi
8. Sacral Defense of Dissident Political Theology in Iran, by Mahmoud Sadri
9. Women’s Rights and Clerical The Legacy of ‘Allameh Tabataba’i, by Ziba Mir-Hosseini Negin Nabavi is assistant professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University.