Category: Political Religion

NOW AVAILABLE: Ali Shariati: Critical Social Theory and the Struggle for Decolonization

Ali Shariati: Critical Social Theory and the Struggle for Decolonization, edited by Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri

Ali Shariati (1933-1977) is best known as a “revolutionary theorist,” closely connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979. While his social, political, and religious thought was deeply influential in those turbulent times, Shariati was much more than a political ideologue. A scholar of religion, philosophy, and sociology, Shariati was fluent both in Western and Islamic thought, which allowed him to create some of the most penetrating “critical” thought in the 20th century, applicable to both the West and the dār al-Islām. While he remains controversial inside his home country, his influence has grown beyond its borders. Today, contemporary theorists are returning to Shariati’s written works, seeing his voluminous writing as a precursor to the decolonization movement, which seeks to emancipate the non-Western world from the vestiges of Western colonial domination. In many ways, Shariati laid the foundation for such emancipatory work through his own struggle against the Shah of Iran and the clerical establishment that supported the status quo. This collection of essays returns to a variety of the Shariati’s core concepts, as it seeks to interrogate them, revitalize them, and engage our own age of strife through these Shariatian perspectives.

Contributors: Dustin J. Byrd, Seyed Javad Miri, Joseph Alagha, Esmaeil Zeiny, Vahideh Sadeghi, Bijan Abdolkarimi, Raewyn Connell, Carimo Mohomed, Tanveer Azamat, Teo Lee Ken, Milad Dokhanchi, Fatemeh Shayan, Ali S. Harfouch, M.S. Kolbadi, and Mohammad Masud Noruzi.

Available on the Ekpyrosis Press website: Ali Shariati

Available on Amazon (US): Ali Shariati

Available through Lulu (US & International): Ali Shariati

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NEW PODCAST on Ali Shariati

My dear brother and colleague, Seyed Javad Miri, and I had a wonderful opportunity to discuss Ali Shariati with Jacek Drozda, the host of the “Emancypacje” (Emancipation) podcast out of Warsaw, Poland. We discussed Shariati’s life, work, influence on the 1979 revolution in Iran, and most importantly, Ali Shariati’s Liberation Theology.

Here’s the introduction to the podcast: We begin our new mini-series “Liberation Theologies” where we look at the intersection of emancipatory politics and religion with an exciting conversation about Ali Shariati, a renowned Iranian revolutionary, sociologist, political theologian and theoretician. Our guests are two major specialists in this field: prof. Dustin J. Byrd (The University of Olivet) and prof. Seyedjavad Miri (Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies in Tehran). As regular collaborators they authored and edited several important books together, including “Ali Shariati and the Future of Social Theory: Religion, Revolution, and the Role of the Intellectual” (Brill, 2017). Take a deep dive into Shariati’s contribution to political philosophy and the Iranian Revolution the victory of which he did not live to see.

Liberation Theologies Pt. 1 on Soundcloud: Ali Shariati, Revolution, Islamic Modernism, and Red Shi’ism.

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New Book Coming in November:

I’m pleased to announce that my latest co-edited book, “Sigmund Freud as a Critical Social Theorist: Psychoanalysis and the Neurotic in Contempoary Society” will be released at the end of November, 2024. My co-editor, Seyed Javad Miri, and I conceived of this book amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as we were both reading Freud. We wanted to show not that Freud was right about everything – he certainly wasn’t, but rather that Freud’s work continues to be theoretically fruitful in a variety of disciplines and subject. Thus, the thread that unites the chapters in the book is the realization that Freud is not dead, but rather is alive and well within critical social theory.

The portrait of Freud used for the cover was painted by a former student of mine at The University of Olivet, Mahalia Stelter, who is an amazing portrait artist. It was a great pleasure to commission the painting for the purpose of this book.

Contributors: Joan Braune, Jimmy Butts, Dustin J. Byrd, Mlado Ivanovic, Clint Jones, Howard L. Kaye, Ulrike Kistner, Lauren Langman, Gregory Joseph Menillo, Seyed Javad Miri, Michael Naughton, Délia Popa, Francesco Ranci, Iaan Reynolds, Rudolf J. Siebert, Yannis Stavrakakis, Alfred I. Tauber, Michael J. Thompson, Eli Zaretsky

Freud as a Critical Social Theorist: Psychoanalysis and the Neurotic in Contemporary Society

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New Article: Erich Fromm and Religion

In the summer of 2023, I had the wonderful experience of presenting my work on Erich Fromm and the International Psychoanalytic University in Berlin. I discussed the “rescue of religion” in an age of authoritarian populism from a Frommian perspective. Later, I was asked to turn my presentation into an article for a special edition on Erich Fromm in the Journal of Psychosocial Studies (Bristol University Press), edited by Rainer Funk, psychoanalyst, former assistant to Erich Fromm, and Director of the Erich Fromm Institute in Tübingen, Germany. I’m happy to announce that it is now available. Can Religion be Rescued in the 21st Century?

Here’s a presentation of my work on this subject in a subsequent seminar on Erich Fromm.
jps-article-10.1332-14786737Y2024D000000027-3Download
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Erich Fromm and Religion

I had the distinct pleasure of joining fellow colleagues to discuss Erich Fromm and his critical understanding of religion. This discourse was sponsored by the Erich Fromm Society of North America, and took place on January 21st, 2024. It was hosted by Dr. Maor Levitin and Dr. George Lundskow. We were joined by Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert, Dr. Rainer Funk, Dr. Hille Haker, Dr. Sandra Buechler, Dr. Lauren Langman, Dr. Talmadge Wright, Dr. Mauricio Cortina, and others. My discourse pertains to the rescue of religion within the modern world. My discourse starts at the 48 minute mark.

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Malcolm X: Man, Myth, and Legacy

On the 59th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, February 21st, 2024, I have a lecture at The University of Olivet entitled, “Malcolm X: Man, Myth, and Legacy.” It was well attended by students, colleagues, and administration, and we had a wonderful question/answer period afterwards. Black History month is too often reduced down to Dr. King, and on top of that down to his “I have a dream” speech. As beloved as Dr. King is, Black History is much bigger than him. This discourse is but one way to broaden the scope of Black History month, which, in my humble opinion, is important for all Americans to participate in.

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Decolonizing Theory: Thinking Across Traditions – a Conversation with Aditya Nigam

On February 11th, 2024, I had the great honor of speaking to Aditya Nigam about his book, “Decolonizing Theory: Thinking Across Traditions” (Bloomsbury 2020), along with other members of the Institute for Critical Social Theory, including Seyed Javad Miri, Mehdi Shariati, and Michael Naughton. This was an insightful conversation dealing with a variety of topics as they relate to decolonial theory in a variety of spaces and places. Check out the video on the Institute for Critical Social Theory’s YouTube channel:

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Talking Erich Fromm and Religion

On January 21st, 2024, I had a wonderful opportunity to discuss the topic of Erich Fromm and religion with numerous great scholars, including Rudolf J. Siebert, Hille Haker, Reiner Funk, Joan Braune and numerous others. The event was organized by Maor Levitin on behalf of the Erich Fromm Society of North America. My presentation discussed the need for the political Left to reengage with religion, to develop an humanistic/religious ecumenicism along the lines of Erich Fromm’s psychoanalytic philosophy, lest the “catalogue” of religion become the sole possession of the far-right, who would use it as a weapon against the unwanted “others.” A video of the discourse will be made available at a later time.

“Can Religion be Rescued in the 21st Century? Erich Fromm’s Religious Humanism and Authoritarian Populism”
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“Fire on the Mountain: Media, Religion, Nationalism” – CU-Boulder

On January 12th, 2024, I had the great pleasure of presenting my work at the “Fire on the Mountain” conference at the University of Colorado-Boulder, sponsored by the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture. My presentation was on the Neo-Eurasianism of Alexander Dugin and the temptation is presents for many on the Left, who, like Alexander Dugin, are critics of the Neo-Liberal hegemony, but are unaware of the fascist roots of Dugin’s philosophy. The presentation was well received and we had a fruitful discussion afterwards. While it was bitterly cold, the fires of academic inquiry kept us warm! Much gratitude to Nabil Echchaibi for organizing the conference and CU-Boulder for hosting it.

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