Presidential Elections in Iran: Islamic Idealism Since the Revolution (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781108995139)

The dominant narrative of Iranian society and politics heralds the reformist movement as the epitome of Iran's transition to secularity, while conservative political forces are positioned as advocates of Islamization and a bulwark against secularization. Examining all the presidential elections since the revolution, Mahmoud Pargoo and Shahram Akbarzadeh argue that in contrast, political and cultural imagination and expectations in Iran have actually secularized regardless of the reformist/conservative divide. Exploring the evolution of campaign discourses from the 1980s elections which brought Abolhassan Banisadr, Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Ali Khamenei to power, to the more recent campaigns of Mohamad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani, this book suggests that current debates in Iranian domestic politics are not between secularists and their opponents, but rather, between different kinds of secular forces.

Author: Mahmoud Pargoo, Shahram Akbarzadeh
ISBN-10: 1108995136
ISBN-13: 9781108995139
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 05/06/2021
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.59lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.42d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2022