Democracy in Modern Iran: Islam, Culture, and Political Change

Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? In Democracy in Modern Iran, Ali Mirsepassi maintains that it is in fact possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. Rather, he provides new perspective on how such a political and social transformation could take place, arguing that the key to understanding the integration of Islam and democracy lies in concrete social institutions rather than pre-conceived ideas, every day experiences rather than abstract theories. Mirsepassi, an Iranian native, provides a rare inside look into the country, offering a deep understanding of how Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq can and will embrace democracy. This essential volume contributes important insights to current discussions, creating a more complex conception of modernity in the Eastern world and, with it, Mirsepassi offers to a broad Western audience a more accurate, less cliched vision of Iran’s political reality. Ali Mirsepassi is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Sociology at New York University and author of Intellectual Discourses and Politics of Modernization: Negotiating Modernity in Iran.