Iran in Revolt: Revolutionary Aspirations in a Post-Democratic World

Iran in Revolt: Revolutionary Aspirations in a Post-Democratic World retells the boldness and tragedy of the Zhina uprising in Iran, exploring what truly constitutes their success and how we measure their failures in a world grappling with post-democratic realities. In September 2022, a young Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, was killed in police custody for failing to observe the strict dress code imposed on Iranian women. Her death sparked a massive social uprising within and outside of Iran. The slogan, “Woman, Life, Freedom,” spread like wildfire from Amini’s hometown to solidarity protests held in London, New York, Melbourne, Paris, Seoul and beyond. The pain felt by millions of Iranians, caused by the Islamic Republic, was on the global stage again. Yet, misreadings of the Zhina uprising—both accidental and insidious—began to proliferate, with different parties vying for power.

Through this book, the author cuts through the white noise of imperialist war mongers and social media bots to provide a careful and principled account of the revolution, and how it has forever altered the nature of politics in Iran and the wider region. Iran in Revolt argues that “democracy” and the “nation-state” are tired concepts, exploring what it means to fight for a just society instead. Through detailed political, philosophical, and historical analysis, Dabashi shows that the vulnerable lives and fragile liberties of nations have never been so intimately connected, just as the pernicious cruelties of ruling regimes have never been so identical as they are today.