Overcoming the ulama globalizing Iran's political economy

Download
Author
Brechbill, Alan M.
Date
2008-12Advisor
Looney, Robert
Second Reader
Gehri, Suzanne
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In the nearly thirty years following the Islamic Revolution, two opposing forces - an isolated conservative theocracy versus globalization - struggling to coexist, placed Iran in a precarious position to either move back toward the traditional ideologies that prompted such a radical transformation, away from the pressures, challenges and interdependencies created through globalization, or to participate more actively in the outside world. The religious establishment or ulama play the most significant role in the dichotomy between Iran's theocratic conservatism and the position Iran takes in globalization. The modern history of Iran is replete with examples of the ulama actively participating in the political economy of the country, usually acting with their own interests in mind. Despite basing their actions within the theology and jurisprudence of Shi'a Islam, significant space exists with the principles of Islamic economic thought to allow the ulama in Iran to lead their country into the global economy. Yet the uncertainties and diffusion of power brought about through the processes of globalization keep the religious establishment from doing so in an effort to maintain their control over all Iranian institutions captured after the revolution.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Globalization and its impact on the Middle East
Ozdemir, Erhan. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2008-12);Participation in globalization would be a great contributing factor to obtaining stable economic growth among Middle East states. In fact, globalization and its use in economic development have profound importance both ... -
Highlighting effects of current globalization tenets, namely democracy, capitalism, and cultural transformation, on the Arab Islamic Middle East
Richardson, David Lee. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2009-06);This thesis examines the shape of globalization in the Middle East, specifically with respect to three major elements of globalization, those of politics, economics, and culture. This thesis attempts to shed light on the ... -
An Assessment of Relative Globalization in Asia during the 1980s and 1990s
Looney, Robert E.; Frederiksen, P.C. (2004);This paper uses factor and discriminant analyses to generate indices of globalization. The first part of the paper describes the technique and we find that the Netherlands is the most globalized and Sierra Leone the least. ...