Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorBeukes, Johann
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-18T15:52:06Z
dc.date.available2021-05-18T15:52:06Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.identifierONIX_20210518_9781928523307_40
dc.identifier.urihttps://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/48734
dc.description.abstractIn 1978 Michel Foucault went to Iran as a distinguished intellectual – but novice political journalist – controversially reporting on the unfolding revolution, undeniably compromising and wounding his reputation in the European intellectual community. Given the revolution’s bloody aftermath and its violent theocratic development, is Foucault’s Iranian expedition simply to be understood as a critical error in judgement, with disastrous consequences for his legacy? What exactly did Foucault hope to achieve in Iran in 1978-1979, explicitly supporting the cause of the revolting masses and effectively isolating himself from the European intellectual community and the Western liberal tradition? The book investigates this open nerve in the Foucault scholarship by interpreting Foucault's primary texts from this period, commenting on the various positions in the scholarship over the past three decades, and eventually proposes that Foucault's 'mistake', resulting from his 'self-consciousness' and 'uncertainty', was indeed a highly philosophical endeavour, but was completely misinterpreted by his contemporaries and even his most noteworthy biographers. The issue of Foucault's involvement in Iran is still a relatively unexplored theme in Foucault research and one that is actually bypassed by the majority of Foucault scholars, since the general view is that it was a breathtaking mistake, comparable to Heidegger's flirtation with National Socialism. This book will provide value and advance knowledge in this area, firstly, by presenting the three concepts that are in my opinion key to understand Foucault's involvement in the Iranian revolution (Otherness, Present history and Political spirituality). Secondly, by providing a thorough overview of what really happened in Iran after Foucault arrived in Tehran in September 1978 (and what really happened was not conforming to the West's idea of progression, but an Iranian idea of progression, on its own terms). Thirdly, by disseminating Foucault's reports back to France, in a detailed and forensic fashion. Fourthly, by providing a solid overview of the interpretations on this issue (however reluctant and scarce) from the scholarship over the past three decades. Fifthly, by presenting Foucault's involvement in the Iranian revolution not as a mistake or a critical error in judgement, but as a deeply philosophical position that actually corresponds to many of Foucault's theoretical positions on power, death, madness, uncertainty, spirituality, Orientalism and Otherness, preceding the revolution in Iran. The detailed historical overview of Foucault's involvement in the Iranian revolution, the responsible and non-polemical overview of the scholarship's attempts to deal with the issue and the author's original interpretation and presentation of the legitimacy of Foucault's presence in Iran from September 1978 to April 1979. In an age where it has become urgent to reinterpret both Shia and Sunni legacies within the context of radicalised Islam, the book argues for a Foucaultian recognition of the 'Orient Other' - as nothing more than 'An Other Self'.
dc.languageEnglish
dc.subject.classificationbic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HP Philosophy
dc.subject.classificationbic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HR Religion & beliefs::HRA Religion: general::HRAM Religious issues & debates::HRAM2 Religion & politics
dc.subject.classificationbic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HP Philosophy::HPC History of Western philosophy::HPCF Western philosophy, from c 1900 -
dc.subject.classificationbic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HP Philosophy::HPS Social & political philosophy
dc.subject.classificationthema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophyen_US
dc.subject.classificationthema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRA Religion: general::QRAM Religious issues and debates::QRAM2 Religion and politicsen_US
dc.subject.classificationthema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHR Western philosophy from c 1800en_US
dc.subject.classificationthema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophyen_US
dc.subject.otherMichel Foucault
dc.subject.otherIranian Revolution
dc.subject.otherPolitical spirituality
dc.subject.otherOtherness
dc.subject.otherPresent history
dc.subject.otherFoucault scholarship
dc.subject.otherNeoliberalism
dc.titleFoucault in Iran, 1978–1979
dc.typebook
oapen.identifier.doi10.4102/aosis.2020.BK203
oapen.relation.isPublishedByd7387d49-5f5c-4cd8-8640-ed0a752627b7
oapen.relation.isFundedBy7fe85c5b-a42a-485c-9e88-d32690864bdf
oapen.relation.isbn9781928523307
oapen.relation.isbn9781928523284
oapen.relation.isbnISBN:9781928523291
oapen.pages234
oapen.place.publicationDurbanville
oapen.grant.number[grantnumber unknown]


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record