Being Modern in Iran (Hardcover)

by Fariba Adelkhah (Author) "Gobineau, in a celebrated passage about nineteenth-century Iran, said that the Persian state did not exist in reality, that the individual was everything: The state?..." (more)
Key Phrases: Leader of the Revolution, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Imam Khomeyni (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'This study is social anthropology at its best. It is a readable book-even amusing in places-and should be read by anyone seeking to understand contemporary Iran.' -Middle East International --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"For anyone interested in understanding the complexities of contemporary Iranian politics, this book should be mandatory reading." -- Afsaneh Najmabadi, Middle East Journal

"Precisely how Iranians have fashioned, and are fashioning, their daily life -- or, as Adelkhah puts it, 'reinventing their modern life' -- is the tantalizing focus of this very interesting... book about Iranian culture and politics." -- Farideh Farhi, International Journal of Middle East Studies

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231119402
• ISBN-13: 978-0231119405
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,914,406 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your father's Iran anymore, December 10, 2000

By	matthew osborne (florence, al United States) - See all my reviews

I like it when an author takes a broad, difficult subject and 1.) gives a good generalization, with some proof 2.)penetrates very deep into a very few specific examples. Adelkhah does that quite well.

First, he touches on the broad view of an emerging civil culture in Iran, without which Iran cannot become a "modern" republic and certainly not a democratic one. He tells of the amazing changes to the city of Teheran as mayor Kharabashi challenged everyone to bring their (formerly private and exclusive) gardens out to the front of the street. If you have toured the traditional Middle East, you will have doubtless noticed that houses are built much like fortresses in the city-- emblematic of a culture that displays a seemingly congenital xenophobia.

He also traces the origins of the sports craze in Iran, and the explosion of public parks and spaces. One cannot walk away from the book without a genuine sense that the Islamic Republic of Iran is actually undergoing tectonic changes from within that threaten to cast aside the clerical domination of the country in favor of something entirely new to the world: a Muslim democracy, whatever that turns out to be.