Category: Islam

New Book: Beyond Eurocentric Social Theory: The Nomadic Intellectual on Religion, Culture, and the State

I am happy to announce that Esmaeil Zeiny and I recently published our book, Beyond Eurocentric Social Theory: The Nomadic Intellectual on Religion, Culture, and the State, which is a collection of essays that engage the work of the Iranian social theorist and my dear brother, Seyed Javad Miri. Dr. Miri is an encyclopedia of knowledge regarding social thought, both Western and Islamic. He has published books and articles on a wide variety of topics, from Iranian politics and culture to Western theory in conversation with Eastern philosophical and religious thought. His work has influenced countless intellectuals and we have attempted to honor him with this collection of essays, published by DeGruyter Brill.

I would personally like to thank Dr. Esmaeil Zeiny, who did the bulk of the heavy lifting on this project, which allowed me some intellectual space to keep working on the many projects that Seyed Javad and I are always involved in, including our Institute for Critical Social Theory, our journal Critical Perspectives, and the numerous books he publishes with Ekpyrosis Press. If there is good in this new book, it is the work of Esmaeil Zeiny and the authors; if there are mistakes, they’re mine.

Look closely at the cover and you’ll see that Seyed Javad is looking back at you!

Get yourself a copy of the book: Beyond Eurocentric Social Theory: The Nomadic Intellectual on Religion, Culture, and the State.

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Institute for Critical Social Theory Conference in Istanbul, July 8-10, 2026

The Institute for Critical Social Theory has released its Call for Papers for the 2026 conference at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. The theme of this year’s conference is “Critical Social Theory in an Age of Global Uncertainty.” We, the organizers, would love to see you all there. Send us an abstract! For more details, see the full Call for Papers below:

ICST – Call for Papers 2026Download
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New Publication in Critical Perspectives

Critical Perspectives, the journal of the Institute for Critical Social Theory, has just released Vol. 1, no. 2. It was published in December by Ekpyrosis Press. In it I have an article entitled, “Ali Shariati and the Foundations of Islamic Socialism: Muhammad, Capitalism, and the Post-Metaphysical Socialist Alternative.” I also wrote a book review of Jack El-Hai’s The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Herman Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal meeting of Minds at the End of the WWII.

You can purchase a physical copy for $20 here: Critical Perspectives Vol. 1, no. 2.

Or, a free download can be found here:

Critical Perspectives – Vol 1, no. 2 Download
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A Discussion of Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani in Tehran

Just before the internet was shut off in Iran during the nationwide protests, I gave a short address on the Iranian philosopher, Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani, at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studied in Tehran. Dinani is a towering figure in Iranian philosophy, yet is not well known in the West, which is a crime. The address was in conjunction with the publication of Dinani’s book, “The I and the Non-I: Beyond Subjectivism and Nihilism,” published by Ekpyrosis Press. The book was translated from Farsi to English by Seyed Javad Miri, and I wrote the foreword. The article below is about my talk and there is an audio link below through which you can listen to my talk.

Dinani’s Work Reminds us the Philosophy is not a Dead Discipline.

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“Critical Theory in an Age of Social Disintegration” – ICST Conference in Bristol, UK

On July 17-19, the Institute for Critical Social Theory hosted their inaugural conference at the University of Bristol, UK. I was a great honor to welcome so many scholars to the ICST event. We had thirteen presentations, two plenary addresses, and a round table discussion about critical theory during times of war (See the schedule below). We are looking forward to our next conference in 2026, with Istanbul being the agreed upon destination. Keep an eye out for that Call for Papers.

ICST 2025 Conference ScheduleDownload

If you’d like to listen to my plenary address, wherein I discuss what it means to be critical in an age of social disintegration, you can find it on YouTube:

For more information on the Institute for Critical Social Theory, please visit our website: ICST

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Islamophobia in Granada, Spain

On May 22, 2025, I had the awesome opportunity to present my work on the metaphysics of Islamophobia at the Fourth Annual International Islamophobia Studies Research Association (IISRA) Conference, which took place in the shadow of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The conference was sponsored by the Instituto de la Paz y los Conflictos (Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies) and Departments Studios Semiticos (Department of Semitic Studies), at the University of Granada. My presentation was based on my chapter in the new book, Secularism, Race, and the Politics of Islamophobia (University of Alberta Press), edited by Dr. Sharmin Sadequee. The chapter is entitled, “The Limits of the Translation Proviso: The Inherent Alien in the Willed-Community,” wherein I discussed Habermas’ “translation proviso” for Muslims in the West, its problems, and the rightwing retreat into metaphysical Islamophobia, especially in the concept of the “Volksgemeinschaft” (ethnic community), as a means of marginalizing Muslims in post-secular societies. No trip to Granada is complete without a tour of the Alhambra and the Albaicín part of the city, which is a historically Muslim part of the city. I also toured the Monastery of St. Jerome, Cartuja de Granada (Carthusian Monastery), and the Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de la Encarnación (Granada Cathedral), which sits on the remains of the central mosque of Granada. I also visited the Islamic madrasa (which is not a madrasa anymore) and the square in which Catholic Spaniards burned the Islamic books from the madrasa. This was an amazing conference and visit to Andalusia. I look forward to returning to visit Seville and Cordoba.

Fourth Annual International Islamophobia Studies Research Association (IISRA) ConferenceDownload

Buy the book here: Secularism, Race, and the Politics of Islamophobia.

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