The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran

Distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores ideas about nationalism and how they apply to twentieth-century Iran.

Ali M. Ansari (Author)

9780521687171, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 September 2012

346 pages
23 x 15.3 x 1.9 cm, 0.45 kg

'This excellent work asks these basic questions: what is an Iranian; and how has Iranian identity been shaped over the past 100 years? … an insightful discussion of issues of nationalism in modern Iran.' Grant Farr, Middle East Media and Book Reviews (membr.uwm.edu)

The first full-length study of Iranian nationalism in nearly five decades, this sophisticated and challenging book by the distinguished historian Ali M. Ansari explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran. It does so by considering the broader developments in national ideologies that took place following the emergence of the European Enlightenment and showing how these ideas were adopted by a non-European state. Ansari charts a course through twentieth-century Iran, analysing the growth of nationalistic ideas and their impact on the state and demonstrating the connections between historiographical and political developments. In so doing, he shows how Iran's different regimes manipulated ideologies of nationalism and collective historical memory to suit their own ends. Drawing on hitherto untapped sources, the book concludes that it was the revolutionary developments and changes that occurred during the first half of the twentieth century that paved the way for later radicalisation.

1. Introduction
2. An Iranian enlightenment
3. The age of extremes
4. The age of contestation.

Subject Areas: Political ideologies [JPF], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1], History [HB]