Iran Divided: The Historical Roots of Iranian Debates on Identity, Culture, and Governance in the Twenty-First Century

by Shireen T. Hunter

Overview

Iranian politics has been marked by sharp ideological divisions and infighting. These divides, kept largely out of public view until the 1990s, came to greater light with the contested 2009 presidential elections. To explain the diverse and complex forces that led to this event and that animate Iran’s current fractured society and polity, author Shireen T. Hunter looks beyond the battle between the forces of reform and reaction, democracy and dictatorship, and considers the historic forces that created the conditions faced by Iran since the revolution.

Iran Divided: The Historic Roots of Iranian Debates on Identity, Culture, and Governance in the 21st Century explains historical and political factors and their relevance to Iran today, shedding light on the forces behind Iranian politics and society. This book discusses:

• historical roots of Iran’s current divisions and debates;
• Iran versus Islam;
• secularism versus religion;
• constitutionalism versus Islamic government;
• fundamental issues of identity, culture, and governance;
• aging of the revolutionary coalition;
• development of new elites;
• experiences of the Islamic republic;
• and new international conditions moving the country beyond old divides and ideological rifts toward a new national consensus.

A comprehensive survey, the book will be an indispensable tool to any student seeking to understand the Islamic Republic of Iran and its standing in the world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442233201
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/17/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	445 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Shireen T. Hunter is a research professor at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

PART I: HISTORIC ROOTS OF CURRENT DEBATES
1. Iran’s Social, Economic, Political, and Cultural Conditions at the Dawn of the 19th Century
2. Encounter with the West, Efforts at Reform and Modernizaiton, and Their Consequences
3. The Left in Iran: Origins and Evolution
4. Islamic Opposition to the Shah: Groups, Individuals, and Thinking

PART II: POST-REVOLUTION DEVELOPMENTS
5. The Revolution Triumphs, the Coalition Fractures, and Power Struggles Begin
6. Factions, Discourses and Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran: 1980-1997
7. The Left’s Revenge, the Khatami Presidency, and the Reformist Discourse
8. Khatami’s Second Term, 2001-2005: Continued Domestic Bickering and New International Challenges
9. Ahmadinejad Presidency’s First Term (2005-2009): Restoring Revolutionary Values
10. Presidential Elections of 2009 and Ahmadinejad’s Second Term
11. June 2013 Presidential Elections: Outcome, Significance, and Potential Consequences

CONCLUSION
Afterword

Editorial Reviews

Shireen Hunter takes on one of the most persistent and difficult questions facing Iranians: Who are we and what makes us Iranians? In doing so, she skillfully weaves threads from history, ethnography, religion, and literature, and applies her remarkable scholarship to a problem that continues to bedevil Iranians even as their political systems change.

Ambassador John Limbert

By placing Iran's recent developments in their proper historical context, Hunter identifies a number of major divides in Iranian identity, culture and politics, some resulting from Iran's long and turbulent history and some from its more recent past, especially the dynamics of its modernization. Applying this approach, Iran Divided goes beyond the simplistic and binary analysis of Iran's politics in terms of factional infighting, conflict between reformists and conservatives, and struggle between dictatorship and democracy. Hunter also sheds new light on the country's pre-and post-revolution developments. The result is a rich and valuable addition to Iranian studies and for a better understanding of Iran's modern politics.

Hooshang Amirahmadi

Shireen Hunter's new book is a fascinating survey of Iranian factional politics. She traces the essential divisions back to the earliest days, and presents them to the reader in a graceful and accessible style. The politics of the Islamic Republic, she argues, is rooted in the discourse of pre-revolutionary Iran. This is a book for anyone who would like to penetrate the thickets of Iranian politics, and perhaps even gain a perspective of where it may be headed.

Gary Sick

Shireen Hunter has provided the most authoritative analysis of contemporary Iranian political and social dynamics in print today. Her detailed data-rich study provides up-to-the-minute accounts of the most recent Iranian political events and their meaning both for Iran and the world. Contextualizing these latest events in the contemporary history of Iran starting with the history surrounding the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 and the subsequent establishment of the institutions of the Islamic Republic, she demonstrates definitively that governance in Iran today is process-governed and stable. Of special mention is the admirable examination of the 2009 presidential election and the social protests emanating from it; and the subsequent election of reformist President Hassan Rouhani in 2013. Those who believe that Iran is an arbitrary theocratic dictatorship should be required to read this masterful study; their prejudicial, inaccurate view will be severely challenged.

William O. Beeman

Iran Divided ultimately determines that the current system of governance is stable and process-driven, with its Islamic leaders pursuing many aspects of modernity, including constitutionalism and republicanism.

Middle East Journal

This wide-ranging book covers sociopolitical and cultural developments in contemporary Iran. Hunter, a well-published scholar on Iran and the broader Muslim world, places contemporary developments in postrevolutionary Iran in historical context. Throughout the book, the author seeks to explain what it means to be an Iranian and how the Iranian people define and redefine their cultural identity and grapple with issues of governance. Hunter traces the current debates about the issues of modernity, cultural authenticity, and political discourse among the Iranians from the dawn of the 19th century. She describes Iran’s encounter with the West and explains varied responses to this encounter, including those of nationalist, leftist, and religious groups. The strength of the book is that the author does not offer simplistic explanations to complex problems that have affected the course of political developments in Iran, prior to and after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The author also does a masterful job of analyzing the interplay of competing forces that have shaped the formation and maturation of the Islamic Republic and explains major developments in Iran from 1979 to the present time. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

Choice Reviews

This wide-ranging book covers sociopolitical and cultural developments in contemporary Iran. Hunter, a well-published scholar on Iran and the broader Muslim world, places contemporary developments in postrevolutionary Iran in historical context. Throughout the book, the author seeks to explain what it means to be an Iranian and how the Iranian people define and redefine their cultural identity and grapple with issues of governance. Hunter traces the current debates about the issues of modernity, cultural authenticity, and political discourse among the Iranians from the dawn of the 19th century. She describes Iran’s encounter with the West and explains varied responses to this encounter, including those of nationalist, leftist, and religious groups. The strength of the book is that the author does not offer simplistic explanations to complex problems that have affected the course of political developments in Iran, prior to and after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The author also does a masterful job of analyzing the interplay of competing forces that have shaped the formation and maturation of the Islamic Republic and explains major developments in Iran from 1979 to the present time. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

CHOICE

This wide-ranging book covers sociopolitical and cultural developments in contemporary Iran. Hunter, a well-published scholar on Iran and the broader Muslim world, places contemporary developments in postrevolutionary Iran in historical context. Throughout the book, the author seeks to explain what it means to be an Iranian and how the Iranian people define and redefine their cultural identity and grapple with issues of governance. Hunter traces the current debates about the issues of modernity, cultural authenticity, and political discourse among the Iranians from the dawn of the 19th century. She describes Iran’s encounter with the West and explains varied responses to this encounter, including those of nationalist, leftist, and religious groups. The strength of the book is that the author does not offer simplistic explanations to complex problems that have affected the course of political developments in Iran, prior to and after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The author also does a masterful job of analyzing the interplay of competing forces that have shaped the formation and maturation of the Islamic Republic and explains major developments in Iran from 1979 to the present time. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

Choice

Iran Divided ultimately determines that the current system of governance is stable and process-driven, with its Islamic leaders pursuing many aspects of modernity, including constitutionalism and republicanism.

The Middle East Journal