Democracy and Secularism in Iran
Lessons for the Arab Spring
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12589209 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paola Rivetti (0000-0002-1794-0504, Dublin City University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 125-132 |
| Publication date | 2013-02-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mediterranean Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1362-9395 • E-ISSN: 1743-9418 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13629395.2013.761478 |
| OpenAlex | W2051452038 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 9 |
The Iranian 2009 massive anti-regime protests in the wake of the contested \npresidential elections and the Arab Spring have taken the scholars of Middle Eastern Studies \nand the international community by surprise. It seems that, despite the very diverse outcomes \nof the uprisings in Iran and across the Arab world, Middle Eastern societies are in the very \nmiddle of what has been called an ‘unfinished revolution’ (Sakbani 2011). Despite the \nconfusion that affected the academic community following the surprising events of the past \nfew years, a great amount of studies have been produced in order to identify the roots and \nmake sense of the uprisings. For the most part, however, explanations for the events refer to \nand are based on well-known theoretical debates and paradigms. In the case of the Arab \nworld, the fall of long-standing authoritarian regimes has revived scholarly interest for the \ntransition to democracy paradigm, whereas studies on the resilience of authoritarian regimes \nare now perceived as over-estimating authoritarian rulers’ grip on society. In addition, the \nelectoral success of Islamist parties has re-ignited scholarly enthusiasm for the rather trite \ndebate on the compatibility between Islam and democracy. \nIn the case of Iran, similar debates centred on democratization versus authoritarian \npersistence and on the relationship among Islam, democracy and modernity have been \nanimating academic discussions for the last two decades. The 2009 crisis strengthened \n2 \nscholars’ perception of Iranian society as democratic, liberal, secular and in conflict with the \nauthoritarian Islamic regime. Indeed, many social scientists of Iranian Studies support the \nidea that the explosion of political and social crisis in Iran, such as the 2009 uprising, \ndemonstrates the existence of that liberal, secular and ‘modern’ civil society willing to shake \na backward and authoritarian regime off. These four books elaborate on this interpretative \nline of inquiry, setting forth interesting arguments for an analysis of the current state of \nIranian Studies and offering useful elements of reflection to scholars of the Arab world as \nwell
Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Foundation (evidence · Government (linguistics · Irish · Islam · Media studies · Middle East · Political science · Politics · Research council · Secularism · Sociology · Spring (device · State (computer science · Engineering · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy · Public Administration · Religion and Society Interactions · Turkey's Politics and Society
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The transformation of Iran's political culture
The revolutions of the Arab Spring
Iranian Women's Increasing Access to Higher Education but Limited Participation in the Job Market
Le réformisme, grand récit politique de la Tunisie contemporaine
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |