“Submission”
• Bernard Lewis• Islam = weak civil societies • 12th century Ghazali: “The tyranny of a sultan for
a hundred years causes less damage than one
year’s tyranny exerted by the subjects against each
other”
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
• Iran’s Islamic Revolution
• Islamic ideal • Sacred over Secular• Ignores differences
between Shi’a & Sunni (not to mention Sufi & other) versions of Islam
The Standard Revised Version
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
• Samuel P. Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations
• Islam as Civilization• Humiliation & Resistance • Islam as holistic guide to life
Islam as Civilization Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
Civilization as Irrelevant
• Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History
• Liberalism is a rational & universal truth
• G. W. F. Hegel’s “struggle for recognition”
“Liberal democracy replaces the irrational desire to be recognized as greater than others with a rational desire to be recognized as equal.”
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
The Importance of Civil Society
• Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work
• Social capital• Robert Hefner applies this to
Islamic societies• Ulama as fluid and fractious• Democracy needs Islamic
justification for legitimacy
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
Constitutional Monarchy
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
• Qajars 1794-1925• Constitutional Revolution
1905-9 – Belgian model– Shi’ism & Council of Guardians
• Colonel Reza Khan 1921, 25-41• Mossadeq & the coup of 1953• Muhammad Reza 1941-1979
“the people and their uncoerced [sic] consent became the basis of legitimacy. Regardless of the extent of its realization, this proved to be the most far-reaching,
emblematic, and resonating legacy of the Constitutional Revolution . . . becoming a canonical principle difficult to
ignore” – Fakhreddin Azimi
Islamic Revolution• Family Protection Act, White
Revolution, & Resurgence Party• Bloody Friday (1978) & general
strike• Ayatollah Ruhollah Komeini
– Mostazafin (the dispossessed)– Velayat-e faqih (guardianship of
the juriconsult)
• “Ayatollah” Ali Khomenei– “Theory of terror”– Commander in Chief
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
Khordad Revolution
• 1997 Presidential election – Sayyid Muhammad Khatami
• 2000 elections for the 6th Majles• 2001 reelection, despite
frustration• 2004 elections for the 7th Majles• 2005 elections of Mahmoud
Ahmedinejad– Islamic populism– “Outsider” appeal
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
Youth in Iran• Unrest and Protest at Tehran
University• Double lives• Influence of modern communication
technology• artistic expression
– Offside by Jafar Panahi in 2005 (inspired by his daughter in 2002)
– Persepolis movie by Marjane Satrapie & Vincent Paronnaud in 2007 (based on her graphic novel, which chronicles her growing up through Islamic Revolution)
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
The Ottoman Empire
• Bastion of Eastern Independence
• Sufism, mystical variant of Islam
• Brief period of domination, post-WWI
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
Ataturk
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
• Mustafa Kemal, Soldier from Macedonia
• Involved in Revolutionary Movement within the Ottoman army
• Emerged as leader after Turkish War for Independence (1918-23)
• Nationalism, Secularism (laiklik), Modernization, & European integration
“[adoption] of Western legal codes from Germany, Italy, and Switzerland,
together with the Latin alphabet and the Western calendar, Western
holidays, and Western measuring systems”
Justice and Development Party
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
• Roots in outlawed Islamist party
• Won 2/3 of parliamentary seats – Only 34% (with low turnout)– but next largest was only 19 %
• Scandals involving governing coalition had angered electorate
• AKP able to form broad coalition (symbolized by its name)
“Turkey’s Tigers”
• Rising class of entrepreneurs benefiting from globalization and free market principles
• Many are simultaneously religiously and socially conservative
• Influence of economic liberalization is profound
• PBS Wide Angle “Turkey’s Tigers”
Theory
Iran
Turkey
Deductions
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