Multiple Modernities and Islamism in Iran

Abstract

The author challenges the idea of a single and homogeneous modernity. Multiple modernization programs have been launched in many countries in general and in Muslim countries in particular. A great part of the literature on modernization of Muslim countries ignores the multiplicity of modernization processes in those countries. Using Iran as an example, the author presents an alternative theoretical tool for understanding modern developments in Muslim countries. The author argues that Iran did not go through a single modernization program, but several, and was affected by many factors such as Western interventions and wars, internal socioeconomic and cultural transformations, and the emergence of new political groups and ideologies. Among others, Islamic groups and parties have been engaged in modern economic, political and sociocultural transformations. A genuine democratic system therefore should include Islamic groups and parties in order to strengthen and legitimize democratic systems.

Civil Society Organizations: the Site of Legitimizing the Common Good—a Literature Review

“…K. Johansson & Lee, 2014;N. Johansson & Metzger, 2016;Kutay, 2015;Avritzer, 2008;Oser, 2010;Zimmermann & Favell, 2011); (b) the state, (Aksartova, 2003); (c) in democratic ways (Burdsey, 2015;Evans, 2012;Kamali, 2001Kamali, , 2007Lipset, 1994;Pousadela, 2016); and (d) through the common good/social capital (Cederström & Fleming, 2016;Clemens, 2015;Graddy & Wang, 2009;Pardo, 1995;Silber, 1998;Silver, 1998Silver, , 2001.Within this segment of literature, civil society organizations' legitimacy is mainly investigated as belonging to a specific field within the larger civil society, by which they and their position vis-à-vis the state and market can be established. This body of research takes as its starting point legitimacy as the representative condition of civil society.…”

The Long Twentieth Century in Iran: Dynamics of Change, Continuity and Mobilizing Master Frames

“…In 1975 the Shah dissolved all the political parties and declared a one-party system and the gap between state and society became a chasm. Kamali characterizes two important elements of these years as ‘fundamentalist secularism’ and ‘fundamentalist marketism’ (Kamali, 2007). Asef Bayat explains that By the late 1970s, a large well to do middle class, a generation of modern youth and publicly active women, an industrial working class, and a new impoverished class of slum dwellers and squatters dominated the social scene.…”

“…However, Iran’s experience with modernization was not homogenous. As Kamali argues, the state was the main agent of modernization in Iran, and its development strategies served the ruling economic and social elite (Kamali, 2007). Moreover, as a consequence of socio-economic changes a new professional middle class emerged, consisting of highly skilled and educated professions like doctors, engineers, civil servants, etc.…”

Turkish civil society divided by the headscarf ban

“…Kamali for example suggests that relative autonomy from the state and the existence of a relatively independent public sphere are all that are necessary for civil society, and have existed in many Islamic societies. 54 Ibrahim argues that nothing that is intrinsically Islamic contradicts the codes of civil society. 55 Sajoo also suggests that socio-economic factors that characterize the Muslim world, such as poverty, migration, and urbanization, are the real reason why civil society is poorly developed in Muslim countries.…”