Dustin J. Byrd - Böcker

This book attempts to explain how and why Ayatollah Khomeini was able to lead the Iranian people in their successful revolution against the Shah of Iran. Bringing together the sociological study of charisma by the sociologist Max Weber and the critical psychology of Erich Fromm, especially his analysis of the "prophet" and "priest," Byrd develops a theory of "prophetic charisma," which attempts to explain how Khomeini's thoughts and actions made him uniquely qualified to guide Iran from under the Shah's dictatorship. He pays close attention to the importance of authority, and how Khomeini's authority to lead the revolution is tied with the charismatic authority that began with the prophet Muhammad. Furthermore, Byrd concentrates on the relationship between Khomeini and the political Marxist-Leninists movements and groups in Iran at the time of the revolution. The book demonstrates how his "Islamization" of leftist language helped infuse a radical Islamo-Marxist critique of the Shah into the Iranian masses. Byrd shows how Khomeini not only benefited from the Left's activities in Iran but also how their critical analysis of the Iranian situation influenced Khomeini's own thoughts and language.

Ayn Rand’s philosophy has once again found an important part on the American political stage. With the rise of the Tea Party movement, her political and economic philosophy has infused the American public discourse with a new Libertarian vitality. Ironically, many of her new followers identify themselves as committed Christians, a prospect that Rand herself would have rejected. This book critically reviews Rand’s secular-atheist philosophy of religion, which includes her theory of altruism, collectivism, and statism, and asks the questions: How did Ayn Rand become conservative Christians’ favorite atheist?; Can Christianity, or any other prophetic religion, be reconciled with her philosophy of greed, selfishness, and capitalism?; Can one be both a Christian and a dedicated follower of Ayn Rand?; Can one appropriate her political and economic philosophy while rejecting her radical atheism and anti-religious stance?

In Ali Shariati and the Future of Social Theory, Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri bring together a collection of essays by a variety of scholars who explore the lasting influence of the Iranian sociologist and revolutionary, Ali Shariati. Thought to be the most important intellectual behind the Iranian Revolution of 1979, these essays engage in a future-oriented remembrance of Shariati's life and praxis, with the practical attempt to clarify, expand, and apply his liberational Islamic thought to modern conditions.

Spurred by the commitment to continue the critical work that Malcolm X began, this volume analyses the enduring significance of his life, work, and religious philosophy. Bringing together thirteen different scholars from six different countries, Malcolm X: From Political Escataology to Religious Revolutionary demonstrates why Malcolm X is still vitally important fifty years after his death.

This provocative and important book critically examines the challenges facing Muslims in Europe and North America. Byrd uses the philosophical perspective of the Frankfurt School’s Critical theory to both diagnose the current problems stemming from Islam’s marginalization in the secular West, and to propose a Habermasian discourse between the religious and the secular.

In Frantz Fanon and Emancipatory Social Theory: A View from the Wretched, Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri bring together a collection of essays by a variety of scholars who explore the lasting influence of Frantz Fanon, renowned psychiatrist, revolutionary, and social theorist. Fanon 's work not only gave voice to the "wretched" in the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), but also shaped the radical resistance to colonialism, empire, and racism throughout much of the world. His seminal works, such as Black Skin, White Masks, and The Wretched of the Earth, were read by The Black Panther Party in the United States, anti-imperialists in Africa and Asia, and anti-monarchist revolutionaries in the Middle East. Today, many revolutionaries and scholars have returned to Fanon 's work, as it continues to shed light on the nature of colonial domination, racism, and class oppression.Contributors include: Syed Farid Alatas, Rose Brewer, Dustin J. Byrd, Sean Chabot, Richard Curtis, Nigel C. Gibson, Ali Harfouch, Timothy Kerswell, Seyed Javad Miri, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Pramod K. Nayar, Elena Flores Ruíz, Majid Sharifi, Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib and Esmaeil Zeiny.

This impressive volume brings together numerous essays honouring the life and work of the Critical Theorist, Rudolf J. Siebert. His ‘dialectical religiology’ rooted in the critical theory of the Frankfurt School—especially the work of Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Leo Löwenthal, and Jürgen Habermas—is both a theory and method of understanding religion’s critique of modernity and modernity’s critique of religion.According to the Enlightenment and its most important thinkers, i.e. Kant, Hegel, and Marx religion is understood to be dialectical in nature. It contains within it both revolutionary and emancipatory elements, but also reactionary and regressive elements, which perpetuate mankind’s continual debasement, enslavement, and oppression. Thus, religion by nature is conflicted within itself and thus stands against itself. Dialectical Religiology attempts to rescue those elements of religion from the dustbin of history and reintroduce them into society via their determinate negation. As such, it attempts to resolve the social, political, theological, and philosophical antagonisms that plague the modern world, in hopes of producing a more peaceful, justice-filled, equal, and reconciled society. The contributors to this book recognize the tremendous contributions of Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert in the fields of philosophy, sociology, history, and theology, and have benefited from his long career. This book attempts to honour his life and work by engaging with and expanding upon it.Contributors include: Edmund Arens, Gregory Baum, Francis Brassard, Dustin J. Byrd, Denis R. Janz, Gottfried Küenzlen, Mislav Kukoč, Michael, R. Ott, Rudolf J. Siebert, Hans K. Weitensteiner, and Brian C. Wilson.

Known for his most famous works, such as The Myth of the Lazy Native (1977) and The Problem of Corruption (1986), as well as his concept of the “captive mind,” Syed Hussein Alatas (1928-2007) made significant contributions to decolonization theory, social theory, and other forms of thought critical of the current neo-colonial and neoliberal world. Although Edward Said acknowledged his debt to Syed Hussein Alatas’ work, especially its influence on Orientalism, his most well known book, Alatas’ work has long been overlooked by Eurocentric Western academia.  Spurred by the commitment to celebrate and develop Syed Hussein Alatas’ work, this edited volume attempts to demonstrate its relevance to numerous academic fields, and the potential for his thought to be transformative in the international socio-political realm. Twenty authors from various disciplines and countries have contributed, in the hopes of bringing his work to the forefront of social and political theory. Contributors are: Mona Abaza, Joseph Alagha, Masturah Alatas, Sharifah Munirah Alatas, Syed Farid Alatas, Syed Imad Alatas, Hira Amin, Dustin J. Byrd, Zawawi Ibrahim, N. Jayaram, Teo Lee Ken, Habibul Haque Khondker, Victor T. King, João Marcelo E. Maia, Seyed Javad Miri, Carimo Mohomed, Chandra Muzaffar, Norshahril Saat, Mostafa Soueid, and Esmaeil Zeiny.

Sigmund Freud’s work has impacted the modern world in profound ways. The contributions in this collection trace the influence of his psychanalytic perspective on a wide range of philosophers and sociologists who built on his thought.The “father of psychoanalysis,” Freud wrote numerous works wherein his psychoanalytic perspectives were applied to history, society, religion, and other cultural phenomena. By expanding his psychoanalytic theories into these realms, Freud insured his place within the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, history, theology, and religious studies, wherein his works are still studied. More specifically, his psychoanalytic theories were adopted, revised, and expanded upon by philosophers and sociologists, such as Theodor W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek, and many others, who in some cases radicalized the latent political content within Freud’s thought, using it to critique modern industrialized capitalism and theorize about the possibility for alternative forms of societies more conducive towards mental health.Although Freud is often marginalized, or even denigrated, there are still elements within the corpus of Freud’s work that are valuable for both diagnosing social problems and addressing such problems psychoanalytically. The book demonstrates the lasting relevance of Freud’s thought to a variety of disciplines, as they diagnose a myriad of social issues.