Contesting the Iranian Revolution
The Green Uprisings
Published on 19. March 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
330 pages
978-1-108-46689-9 (ISBN)
Description
Most observers of Iran viewed the Green Uprisings of 2009 as a 'failed revolution', with many Iranians and those in neighbouring Arab countries agreeing. In Contesting the Iranian Revolution, however, Pouya Alimagham re-examines this evaluation, deconstructing the conventional win-lose binary interpretations in a way which underscores the subtle but important victories on the ground, and reveals how Iran's modern history imbues those triumphs with consequential meaning. Focusing on the men and women who made this dynamic history, and who exist at the centre of these contentious politics, this 'history from below' brings to the fore the post-Islamist discursive assault on the government's symbols of legitimation. From powerful symbols rooted in Shi?ite Islam, Palestinian liberation, and the Iranian Revolution, Alimagham harnesses the wider history of Iran and the Middle East to highlight how activists contested the Islamic Republic's legitimacy to its very core.
Reviews / Votes
'Alimagham has done a fine job of understanding and explaining the ideas and motivations of Green movement activists largely on their own terms and using their own words. It is an important work of scholarship, and anyone that wants to understand modern Iran better would benefit from reading it. This study deepened and improved my own understanding of the modern political scene in Iran, and I think it will be a valuable reference work for a long time to come.' The American ConservativeMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 31 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-46689-9 (9781108466899)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2020
Cambridge University Press
€108.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
03/2020
Cambridge University Press
€27.49
Available for download
Person
Pouya Alimagham is Lecturer and historian of the Middle East at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Receiving his Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan, his thesis on which this book is based was awarded the Mehrdad Mashayekhi Dissertation Award by the Association for Iranian Studies in 2016.
Content
1. Situating the 2009 Green Uprisings; 2. Primer: from the theory of Islamic Republicanism to practice, 1979-2009; 3. On the streets and beyond: crowd action and the symbolic appropriation of the past; 4. Contesting Palestine: generating revolutionary meaning; 5. Co-opting mourning ceremonies: Montazeri, post-Islamism, and revolutionary Ashura; 6. Conclusion.