Mehdi Semati
Biographic Data
| ID | 640275 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mehdi Semati |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mehdi |
| FAMILY NAME | Semati |
| SIGNATURE | SEMATI M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northern Illinois University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0512-2117 |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Strongman imperialism: Media infrastructures and the war on Iran
This article frames the forum as an urgent reflection on the present conjuncture, marked by the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran, the expansion of the conflict in the region, and the collapse of the international rules-based order. It briefly sketches the political economy of the Persian Gulf and America’s “energy security” logic, which explains the conditions of permanent instability in the region. After offering a brief history of how media have portra…
Rethinking Comparative Media System Theory From Ghana: Toward a Patronage-Based Hybrid Model
This study examines Ghana’s media system through a decolonial lens, using Hallin and Mancini’s comparative framework not as a universal template, but as a point of departure. It explores Ghana’s media in four dimensions: the structure of the media market, political parallelism, journalistic professionalization, and the role of the state. The analysis shows that Ghana operates as a patronage-based hybrid system in which media-politics relations ar…
Iran and the American Media: Press Coverage of the ‘Iran Deal’ in Context
The global politics of celebrity: Introduction to a special issue of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture
The proliferation of celebrity studies across multiple fields and disciplines demonstrates an emerging scholarly consensus about the importance of celebrity for understanding the present conjuncture, contemporary capitalism, and its cultural politics. However, celebrity studies have largely neglected transnational and global theories and contexts, which, with the notable exception of studies in development and humanitarianism, tend to focus on An…
Politics of Culture and Communication and the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran remains a foreign policy 'challenge' to the prevailing international order, though it might be more accurate to call it international disorder. The disorder came into sharp view recently when Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign minister, accompanied Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as she unveiled elaborate plans to undermine the administratio…
Paradoxes of Gender, Technology, and the Pandemic in the Iranian Music Industry
This article examines the impacts of Covid19 on musicians and music professionals in the Iranian music industry, an industry that heavily depends on concerts and live performance. Placing the pandemic-related restrictions in the context of larger regulatory limitations imposed by the state, we explore how musicians navigate and exploit existing and emerging restrictions through a number of paradoxical developments. Addressing women’s presence in …
Sounds like Iran: On popular music of Iran
The pace and scope of change in the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years have been remarkable. These transformations are readily observable to those who have traveled to Iran frequently. Yet th
Elite Discourse on Technology in Iran
This paper examines the elite discourse on technology in Iran. The paper examines how concepts such as progress ( taraqqi ), civilization (tamaddon) , and modernity ( tajaddod) , and later notions such as backwardness ( ‘aqab - mandegi ), authenticity ( isalat ), and “Westoxication” ( gharbzadegi) have articulated an elite discourse of technology in Iran. The paper argues that a utilitarian view of technology dominates the elite discourse. Althou…
The Geopolitics of Parazit , the Iranian Televisual Sphere, and the Global Infrastructure of Political Humor
This article examines Parazit, a weekly Persian-language satiric news program that is often called the Iranian Daily Show. Although funded by the United States and circulated via an integrated global communication infrastructure to the dismay of the Iranian government, Parazit has become a popular program in Iran. After discussing the geopolitical context of Parazit, the article considers the form and content of the show in terms of global intert…
Communication, Culture, and the Essentialized Islam
This article argues that it is important for scholars in our field to address religion. It argues that a major pitfall in this endeavor is the problem of essentializing religion, particularly Islam. On the one hand, there has been a tendency to embrace Islam as an overriding explanatory framework. On the other, there has emerged a tendency to vilify religion and to attribute to it a range of issues that are not supported by empirical evidence. In…
Islamophobia, Culture and Race in the Age of Empire
This paper offers a genealogical sketch of the figure of the Muslim Other as it is figured in the post-Cold War popular and political imaginary. It explores why ‘culture’ has acquired a putative explanatory power in the post-Cold War (geo)politics. In addressing differentialist racism, it posits Islamophobia as an ideological response that conflates histories, politics, societies and cultures of the Middle East into a single unified and negative …
Media, Culture and Society in Iran
Imagine the Terror
Hollywood's Transnational Appeal: Hegemony and Democratic Potential
The popular appeal of Hollywood's products across the world invokes a complex history of globalization, nationalism, representation, and popular imagination. Although the question of Hollywood's global appeal is commonplace among scholars of transnational economy and culture, most accounts fail to address the complex political dynamics at the juncture of the nationalism of local film industries and the transnationalization of Hollywood. We take u…
Intellectual and political hygiene: The “Sokal Affair”
Physicist Alan Sokal perpetrated a “hoax” on the journal, Social Text, by submitting a fraudulent article and criticizing the journal for publishing it. Sokal's hoax is said to demonstrate the corruption of the humanities. Cultural studies, multiculturalism, science studies, feminism, and “new social movements” have all come under attack. Analysis of coverage of this affair reveals evidence of a dis‐ease with contemporary theory in the humanities…
The Geopolitics of Parazit , the Iranian Televisual Sphere, and the Global Infrastructure of Political Humor
This article examines Parazit, a weekly Persian-language satiric news program that is often called the Iranian Daily Show. Although funded by the United States and circulated via an integrated global communication infrastructure to the dismay of the Iranian government, Parazit has become a popular program in Iran. After discussing the geopolitical context of Parazit, the article considers the form and content of the show in terms of global intert…
Paradoxes of Gender, Technology, and the Pandemic in the Iranian Music Industry
This article examines the impacts of Covid19 on musicians and music professionals in the Iranian music industry, an industry that heavily depends on concerts and live performance. Placing the pandemic-related restrictions in the context of larger regulatory limitations imposed by the state, we explore how musicians navigate and exploit existing and emerging restrictions through a number of paradoxical developments. Addressing women’s presence in …
Sounds like Iran: On popular music of Iran
The pace and scope of change in the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years have been remarkable. These transformations are readily observable to those who have traveled to Iran frequently. Yet th
Imagine the Terror
The global politics of celebrity: Introduction to a special issue of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture
The proliferation of celebrity studies across multiple fields and disciplines demonstrates an emerging scholarly consensus about the importance of celebrity for understanding the present conjuncture, contemporary capitalism, and its cultural politics. However, celebrity studies have largely neglected transnational and global theories and contexts, which, with the notable exception of studies in development and humanitarianism, tend to focus on An…
Elite Discourse on Technology in Iran
This paper examines the elite discourse on technology in Iran. The paper examines how concepts such as progress ( taraqqi ), civilization (tamaddon) , and modernity ( tajaddod) , and later notions such as backwardness ( ‘aqab - mandegi ), authenticity ( isalat ), and “Westoxication” ( gharbzadegi) have articulated an elite discourse of technology in Iran. The paper argues that a utilitarian view of technology dominates the elite discourse. Althou…
Hollywood's Transnational Appeal: Hegemony and Democratic Potential
The popular appeal of Hollywood's products across the world invokes a complex history of globalization, nationalism, representation, and popular imagination. Although the question of Hollywood's global appeal is commonplace among scholars of transnational economy and culture, most accounts fail to address the complex political dynamics at the juncture of the nationalism of local film industries and the transnationalization of Hollywood. We take u…
Intellectual and political hygiene: The “Sokal Affair”
Physicist Alan Sokal perpetrated a “hoax” on the journal, Social Text, by submitting a fraudulent article and criticizing the journal for publishing it. Sokal's hoax is said to demonstrate the corruption of the humanities. Cultural studies, multiculturalism, science studies, feminism, and “new social movements” have all come under attack. Analysis of coverage of this affair reveals evidence of a dis‐ease with contemporary theory in the humanities…
Hollywood's Transnational Appeal: Hegemony and Democratic Potential
The popular appeal of Hollywood's products across the world invokes a complex history of globalization, nationalism, representation, and popular imagination. Although the question of Hollywood's global appeal is commonplace among scholars of transnational economy and culture, most accounts fail to address the complex political dynamics at the juncture of the nationalism of local film industries and the transnationalization of Hollywood. We take u…
Imagine the Terror
Media, Culture and Society in Iran
Islamophobia, Culture and Race in the Age of Empire
This paper offers a genealogical sketch of the figure of the Muslim Other as it is figured in the post-Cold War popular and political imaginary. It explores why ‘culture’ has acquired a putative explanatory power in the post-Cold War (geo)politics. In addressing differentialist racism, it posits Islamophobia as an ideological response that conflates histories, politics, societies and cultures of the Middle East into a single unified and negative …
Communication, Culture, and the Essentialized Islam
This article argues that it is important for scholars in our field to address religion. It argues that a major pitfall in this endeavor is the problem of essentializing religion, particularly Islam. On the one hand, there has been a tendency to embrace Islam as an overriding explanatory framework. On the other, there has emerged a tendency to vilify religion and to attribute to it a range of issues that are not supported by empirical evidence. In…
The Geopolitics of Parazit , the Iranian Televisual Sphere, and the Global Infrastructure of Political Humor
This article examines Parazit, a weekly Persian-language satiric news program that is often called the Iranian Daily Show. Although funded by the United States and circulated via an integrated global communication infrastructure to the dismay of the Iranian government, Parazit has become a popular program in Iran. After discussing the geopolitical context of Parazit, the article considers the form and content of the show in terms of global intert…
Elite Discourse on Technology in Iran
This paper examines the elite discourse on technology in Iran. The paper examines how concepts such as progress ( taraqqi ), civilization (tamaddon) , and modernity ( tajaddod) , and later notions such as backwardness ( ‘aqab - mandegi ), authenticity ( isalat ), and “Westoxication” ( gharbzadegi) have articulated an elite discourse of technology in Iran. The paper argues that a utilitarian view of technology dominates the elite discourse. Althou…
Sounds like Iran: On popular music of Iran
The pace and scope of change in the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years have been remarkable. These transformations are readily observable to those who have traveled to Iran frequently. Yet th
Politics of Culture and Communication and the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran remains a foreign policy 'challenge' to the prevailing international order, though it might be more accurate to call it international disorder. The disorder came into sharp view recently when Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign minister, accompanied Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as she unveiled elaborate plans to undermine the administratio…
Paradoxes of Gender, Technology, and the Pandemic in the Iranian Music Industry
This article examines the impacts of Covid19 on musicians and music professionals in the Iranian music industry, an industry that heavily depends on concerts and live performance. Placing the pandemic-related restrictions in the context of larger regulatory limitations imposed by the state, we explore how musicians navigate and exploit existing and emerging restrictions through a number of paradoxical developments. Addressing women’s presence in …
Iran and the American Media: Press Coverage of the ‘Iran Deal’ in Context
The global politics of celebrity: Introduction to a special issue of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture
The proliferation of celebrity studies across multiple fields and disciplines demonstrates an emerging scholarly consensus about the importance of celebrity for understanding the present conjuncture, contemporary capitalism, and its cultural politics. However, celebrity studies have largely neglected transnational and global theories and contexts, which, with the notable exception of studies in development and humanitarianism, tend to focus on An…
Strongman imperialism: Media infrastructures and the war on Iran
This article frames the forum as an urgent reflection on the present conjuncture, marked by the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran, the expansion of the conflict in the region, and the collapse of the international rules-based order. It briefly sketches the political economy of the Persian Gulf and America’s “energy security” logic, which explains the conditions of permanent instability in the region. After offering a brief history of how media have portra…
Rethinking Comparative Media System Theory From Ghana: Toward a Patronage-Based Hybrid Model
This study examines Ghana’s media system through a decolonial lens, using Hallin and Mancini’s comparative framework not as a universal template, but as a point of departure. It explores Ghana’s media in four dimensions: the structure of the media market, political parallelism, journalistic professionalization, and the role of the state. The analysis shows that Ghana operates as a patronage-based hybrid system in which media-politics relations ar…
Political science (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Politics (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Media studies (7 works) · History (6 works) · Islamic Studies and History (6 works) · Law (6 works) · History (5 works) · Islam (4 works)