Title Religious statecraft : the politics of Islam in Iran / Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar

Published New York : Columbia University Press, [2018] ©2018

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 378 pages) Series Columbia studies in Middle East politics Columbia studies in Middle East politics. Contents Introduction : the politics of Islam -- Factional causes and religious consequences of politics -- A shi'a theory of the state -- The "Islamic" revolution -- Institutionalizing velayat-e faqih -- The hostage crisis : the untold account of the Communist threat -- Religion and elite competition in the Iran-Iraq war -- The metamorphosis of Islamism after the war -- The factional battle over Khomeini's velayat-e faqih -- Media, religion, and the green movement -- Historical revisionism and regional threats -- The domestic sources of nuclear politics Summary In a revisionist reading of Iranian politics since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mohammad Tabaar demonstrates that the causal link between religious ideology and political order as it has been perceived is perilously misguided. Instead of viewing ideology as a determinant of an actor's political objectives and interests, he examines the religious consequences of politics. The conflict and violence that has been interpreted as an outcome of an ideology should rather be examined as causes of that particular ideology. Tabaar rejects the claim that Shi'a theology independently led to the Islamic Revolution in Iran and shapes its consequences. In actuality, a Shi'a ideology was specifically constructed to engender and preserve the revolution. That is not to say that religion does not matter. Religious ideas, ideals, and ideologies do play critical roles in generating mass mobilization and elite cohesion. It is precisely because political actors are aware of this function that they invest so much political capital in developing and deploying religious ideologies. Tabaar traces half a century of doctrinal changes against the background of Iranian domestic and international politics, and he argues that Islamic ideology is not only used but more importantly is constructed and strategically institutionalized by elites to deal with changing opportunities and threat perceptions Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes In English Print version record Subject Islam and politics -- Iran -- History -- 20th century Islam and politics -- Iran -- History -- 21st century Shīʿah -- Iran POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Political Advocacy. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- World -- Middle Eastern. Islam and politics Politics and government Shīʻah SUBJECT Iran -- Politics and government -- 1979-1997. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85067913 Iran -- Politics and government -- 1997- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh98004950 Subject Iran Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780231545068 0231545061

Other Titles Politics of Islam in Iran

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