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Islam, Democracy and . the Crisis of Legitimacy

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Islam, Democracy and . the Crisis of Legitimacy CoV'vteV'vts Introduction by Tugrul Keskin and Najın al-Din Youseti Reflections on Democracy, Non-Violence and Political Change in han by N ader Hashem i -Page 3 An Interview with hanian Political Scientist Hossein Bashiriyeh by Danny Pastel -Page 6 The role of religious agents in modern Iran by Wladiıllir van Wilgenburg- Page 24 Identity Narratives among Second-Generatian Iranians ın the United States by Sahar Sadeghi - Page 28 Writers' Inferno, Ivay laDatseva-Page 32 h·an-Yemen Relations and Regional Implications by Ladan Yazdian- Page 39 Reconstructions, Reform and Ahınadinejad: h·an 's Political Revolutions 1989-2009 by Marcus W. Darsen-Page 44 Photojournalist: S asan Afsoosi - [email protected] Thirty Years after the Iranian Revolution: goveınment, but the controversy was little more than Islam, Democracy and . the Crisis of eplıemeral and posed no serious challenge to the Legitimacy governınent's autlıority . However, the latest allegations and the ensuing protests in Telıran and The 2009 presidential election in h·an marks an epoch other ınajor cities struck an unprecedented blow to not only in Iranian history but in the Middle East as the legitiınacy of the entire political system, which whole. For the fırst time after the 1979 revolution, the has over the past three decades relied on people's three defeated candidates with extensive votes to meet the exigencies of a republic. revolutionary credentials openly challenged the validity of the election, accusing the government of While the protests started with a siınple slogan massive fraud that had resulted in the reelection of - "where is my vote?"-they ostensibly targeted the incurnbent president Mahmud Ahmadinejad. To ınore than a seemingiy fi"audulent election. Indeed be sure, the previous election (2005) was not entirely they called into question the Iegitimacy of a devoid of controversy as the candidate Mehdi government that could no langer be trusted with Karıub i had leveled fraud accusations against the safeguarding people's rights and interests. The 2009 [ ı ] Counter-Revolution and Revolt in Iran and the Politics of Modernization: Negotiating Modernity in Iran, by " introducing democratic An Interview with Iranian Political theories and ideas to a generatian of Iranian Scientist Hossein Bashiriyeh intellectuals and political figures who latter played significant roles in the democı·atic and reform By Danny Postel mavement. "(2) Author, Reading 1'Legitimation Crisis" in Telu·an Sadly for those of us not literate in Persian, only one http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssjte/metadata.epl? of his numerous books is available in English: the mode=synopsis&bookk~y=211444 monumental State and Revolution in Iran, a largely Contributing Editor, Logos: A Journal of Modern Gramscian analysis of the Iranian Revolution Society & Culture published in 1984 - alas, Jang out of print and http://www. logosjournal.com/ extreınely difficult to find (only a single used copy is dannypostel@gmai I. com available viaAmazon and not one via Powell's). (3) Hossein Bashiriyeh is one of His books in Persian include Revolution and Political post-revolutionary Iran 's key Mobilization (1991 ), Political Sociology (1993), political thinkers. Known as the Histmy of Political Thought in the 20th Century father of political sociology in [Volume I, Marxist Thought, Volume ll, Liberal and Iran, he has influenced, through Conservative Thought] (1994-96), The Kingdam of his voluminous writings and his Reason (1993 ), Civil Society and Political 24 years teaching political Development in Iran (1998), New Theories in Political science at the University of Science (1999), Sociology of Modernity (1999), The Tehran (1983-2007), both the State and Civil Society (2000), 20th Century Theories study and practice of politics in of Culture (2000), Obstacles to Political Development Iran. in Iran (200 1), Lessons on Democracy for Everyone In his recent book Iran 's (2001), Political Science for Eve1yone (2001), An Intel/ectual Revolution, Mehran Kamı·ava deseribes Introduction to the Political Sociology of Iran: The Bashiriyeh as "one of the country's most influential Era of the Islamic Republic (2002), and Transition to and most serious thinkers and analysts." Bashiriyeh's Democracy: Theoretical Issues (2006). two and a half decades as a scholar and mentar in Iran ' Kaınrava writes His translations from English to Persian include Hobbes's Leviathan, Barrington Moore's Social have left indelible marks on successive generations of Origins of Dietatarship and Democracy, Hubert politica1 science graduates, many of whom have gone Dreyfus and Paul Rabinow's Michel Foucault, Beyand on to become academics themselves or have secuı·ed Structuralism and Hermeneutics, and Robeıt Holub's policy-making positions in the state bureaucracy.(l) Jiirgen Habermas: Critic inthePublic Sphere.(4) Bashiriyeh has figuı·ed critically in Iranian public life, Among the subjects Bashiriyeh explores in his 2003 says Ali Mirsepassi, author of Intellectual Discourse essay calleetion Reason in Politics aı·e the Frankfurt School, liberalism and anarchism, Weber and Islam, [ 6] and class struggles, political ideology and identity­ basicaily authoritaı·ian electoral theocracy had been building after the Iranian Revolution. ınore or less experiencing a number of crises, a:ffecting its bases of power: ideological-authoritarian regiınes, In the summer of 2007 Bashiriyeh was fıred from the generally speaking, may develop erises in the sphere of University ofTehran (the handiwork of the "Committee their ideologkal legitimacy, adıninistrative efficiency, of Cultw·al Revolution and Pmges of Universities"). internal elite cohesion, and coercive capacity. If all (5) The previous year, President Ahmadinejad had these erises occw· at the same time, the situation may be chaUenged Iran's university students to "scream" and deseribed as revolutionary; out of these erises emerge ask, "Why are there liberal and secular professors in the necessaıy ingredients for a political opposition too, universities?"( 6) i.e. mass discontent, ideology, leadership and organization. Bashiriyeh has since taken a position in the Department of Political Science at Syracuse University, where he So for a revolutionary situation to devetop at least eight teaches courses on Middle Easteın Political Systeıns , factors are required: the fom regime factoı·s (erises) and Islamic Political Thought, Social Theoıy and the the four revolutionaıy-movement factors. Obviously all Middle East, the Politics of Modern Iran and these factors aı·e dialectically interrelated and enhance Comparative Revolutions. each other. In the case of the Iranian regime before the election, I would say that a considerable degree of the The following interview was conducted via e-maiJ first two erises bad alı·eady come about, but the erisis of between Jw1e and August of 2009. unity and cohesion had been contained sirice 2004, and there was no erisis of coercion or doruination at all. I Danny Postel: As the anthor of a classic study of the think that the afteımath of the eleetion signifıed a quite Iranian Revolution (The State and Revolution in Iran), unprecedented erisis of elite cohesion and unity, :further and given your recent comparative work on intensifying the erises of legitimacy and efficiency. "transitional situations," what are your impressions of Never before had an internal rift caused such a laı'ge­ what's been happening in Iran in the afterınath of the scale mass mobilization of opposition. June 12 presidential election?2 Some have argued that we are witnessing "a great eınan~ipatoıy event" (Slavoj In the specifıc case of the Iranian regime, a ınore or less Zizek)(7); "something quite extraordinaıy, perhaps chronic erisis of legitimacy had been caused by a even a social revolution" (Hamid Dabashi); a "velvet number of factors and developments. Four major coup" (Anoush Ebteshami); "the fınal acts of a ca uses can be identified: (1) the rise of a mo re protracted war for the control of the Iranian republican interpretation of the dominant Islanlist economy" (Behzad Yaghınaian); even an atteınpt to ideology; (2) the contradictory nature of the abolish the people (Pepe Escobar).(8) How would you Constitution, in terms of seeking to combine theocratic characterize the situation? and democratic principles of legitimacy; (3) an increasingly noticeable gap between ruling-class Hossein Bashiriyeh: I think that the aftermath of the practice and its legitimizing ideals; and (4) a w idening election constituted a catalyst for a potentially gap between public opinioıı and official ideology as a revolutionaıy situation facing a government caught in a result of the increasing secularization of social values nwnber of crises. More specifically, it has signifıed a and attitudes. In any case even if the elected offices fatal erisis of cohesion and unity. Of couı·se the may be said to be periodically legitimized by popular [ 7] elections (although elections are controlled), the Ayatollah Khomeini himseli But as mentioned, never unelected offices are no doubt subject to an erosion of before 2009 had internal divisions led to such a mass legitimacy as a result of the foıu· factors I've outlined. political mobilization and ınassive repression. From As I will explain later, I think the grave erisis of the beginning, the lslamic state witnessed internal cohesion and unity resulting from the June election divisions over economic policy, the interpretation of has also actualized the wıderlying erisis of legitimacy. Islan1ic
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