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

Online ISBN:
9780814764398
Print ISBN:
9780814795644
Publisher:
NYU Press
Book

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

Published:
24 May 2010
Online ISBN:
9780814764398
Print ISBN:
9780814795644
Publisher:
NYU Press

Abstract

Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? This book maintains that it is possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. Rather, it 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, the everyday experiences rather than abstract theories. The book provides a rare inside look into Iran, offering a deep understanding of how Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq can and will embrace democracy. It challenges readers to think about Islam and democracy critically and in a far more nuanced way than is done in black-and-white dichotomies of Islam versus Democracy or Iran versus the West. The book contributes important insights to current discussions, creating a more complex conception of modernity in the Eastern world and, with it, offers to a broad Western audience a more accurate, less clichéd vision of Iran's political reality.

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