GINGKO–St Andrews Series – serie

This book provides an overview of the range of seminarian thinking in Iran on the controversial topic of the hijab. During the modern period, Iran has suffered a great deal of conflict and confusion caused by the impact of Western views on the hijab in the 19th century, Riza Shah Pahlavi's 1936 decree banning Islamic head coverings, and the imposition of the veil in the wake of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Hijab addresses the differences of opinion among seminarians on the hijab in the Islamic Republic of Iran, focusing on three representative thinkers: Murtaza Mutahhari who held veiling to be compulsory, Ahmad Qabil who argued for the desirability of the hijab, and Muhsin Kadivar who considers it neither necessary nor desirable. In the first chapter, the views of these three scholars are contextualized within the framework known as 'new religious thinking' among the seminarians. Comprehending the hermeneutics of this new religious thinking is key to appreciating how and why the younger generation of scholars have offered divergent judgements about the hijab. Following the first chapter, the book is divided into three parallel sections, each devoted to one of the three seminarians. These present a chronological approach, and each scholar's position on the hijab is assessed with reference to historical specificity and their own general jurisprudential perspective. Extensive examples of the writings of the three scholars on the hijab are also provided.

Niloofar Kakhi's Nationalism in the Architecture of Modern Iran charts the fascinating and contested history of the development of a national architectural identity in Iran across the 20th century and on into the creative turbulence of international architecture today. Beginning with a discussion of Iranian architecture in the late Kajar period, up to 1925, and its successor, the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-79), Kakhi describes the establishment of the Iranian Society of National Heritage, and the first steps toward the foundation of an academic discipline in the western Beaux Arts tradition, under such international figures as Andre Godard, Ernst Herzfeld, and Arthur Pope. The narrative goes on to consider the importance of archaeological discoveries, particularly of the Archaemenid (c.705 - 329BCE) and Sassanian (224-651CE) periods, on Iranian architecture, and the tension this set up between concepts of national identity and the influence of international modernism. These are explored through detailed discussion of such significant sites as Tehran's National Garden, the Parade Ground and the Ferdowsi Monument, of such authorities as Mohsen Foroughi and Houshang Seyhoun; and of the paralells between architecture in Iran and in the broader Middle East. The re-invention and importance of such architectural features as the iwan and the chahar-taq are explained for the reader, as is the role played by specific core texts, Sufi mysticism, and the first international congresses, constructing a conceptual platform for critically assessing representations of national identity in contemporary Iranian architecture, and enabling the development a comprehensive understanding of the modern history of architecture in Iran.

The work of Charles Tripp – professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) for over three decades – has shaped a distinct approach to the study of Middle East politics: an analytical sensibility that is empirically rich, theoretically insightful, and historically sensitive.Power, Resistance, Ideology and the State brings together contributions from ten political scientists and historians from across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, each of which takes Tripp’s work as an intellectual point of departure for studying politics in the region. The contributions focus on four central themes – power, resistance, ideology and the state – that are central in the field of Middle East politics as a means of examining political trends in cases ranging from Iran and Iraq to Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Each chapter combines extensive field research and a knowledge of regional politics with methodological and philosophical reflexivity to produce a collection of papers at the cutting edge of contemporary Middle East Studies.This volume seeks to present a new understanding of a region of unprecedented volatility, where post-colonial projects of state-driven development have now expired, old ruling elites have been delegitimised, and political Islam discredited. Against this background, the contributors explore the contemporary developments that have emerged to fill the intellectual and material shortcomings created by the systemic failures of economics and politics in the region. Examining topics such as the rise of elite-promoted sectarianism in Iraq, thwarted attempts to manage neoliberalism in Lebanon, and new grassroots social movements in Syria, Power, Resistance, Ideology and the State offers an essential addition to the exploration of the politics of today’s Middle East.

In 1721, in his famous Lettres persane (The Persian Letters), the French philosopher Montesquieu posed the question ‘Comment peut-on être persan?’ The answer to that question is perhaps an even more wide-ranging, challenging and fascinating conundrum today. In his exploration of where such an answer might be found, the renowned contemporary philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo turns to the writings of the politician and diplomat Muhammad Ali Foroughi (1877-1942), and his vision of what ‘being’ a Persian might embrace. After centuries of invasion, murder, destruction and authoritarian rule, this philosophical investigation examines Montesquieu’s original question against a backdrop in which a common, plural subjectivity of Persian-ness has been frustrated for centuries, and at a time when the country is wrestling with the possibility of an extended period of political, social and cultural decline. Even so, the battle for social and political freedoms is still underway in Iran; and in The Idea of Persia, the concept of nationhood is presented as the means by which Iranians may liberate themselves from the heroes and saints of old, and remake their political mentality in a manner that stays true to an age-old idea of Persian-ness, and to the author’s own belief in freedom as a virtue that has to be taught.

The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) remains one of the few interwar peace settlements that has endured into the twenty-first century. Yet, the memory of Lausanne has proved deeply contested. Celebrated by some as a triumph of state sovereignty and peace-making, it has also come to symbolise forced displacement, the erasure of minority rights, and the codification of population transfers as instruments of international order. Reckoning with Loss addresses the shifting interpretations of the treaty across national contexts, tracing how its provisions have been legally, socially, and politically reimagined—whether in debates over the application of Sharia in Greece’s Western Thrace, or diplomatic flare-ups over its possible revision.One hundred years after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, Reckoning with Loss revisits what is often termed the “Lausanne moment”—a diplomatic, legal, economic and financial juncture that helped reshape the world and defined new norms of sovereignty, displacement, and identity. Building on a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship and serving as a sequel to They All Made Peace – What is Peace? (Gingko, 2023), the edited volume foregrounds the lived realities and long-term legacies of the treaty, critically re-examining the political, cultural, and social consequences of its provisions and aftershocks.Rather than focusing solely on high diplomacy or legal text, Reckoning with Loss brings into view the human dimension of the Lausanne moment. Through case studies ranging from the refugee experience in Nikaia and Asia Minor orphans in Greece, to the enduring memory of loss in Pontic singing, the symbolic ethnicity of Cretan descendants and the Kurdish experience in Turkey, the book documents the deeply personal and community-level consequences of forced migration and political rupture. These experiences are not confined to the immediate postwar period; they linger across time, informing the present-day politics of memory, migration, and identity.The volume also interrogates the geopolitics of Lausanne through new thematic lenses. Essays explore how the treaty facilitated the continuation of imperial practices under new nationalist forms, shaped debates over public debt and cultural heritage, and affected actors and regions often overlooked in Lausanne historiography—such as Albania, Cyprus, and the Kurdish nationalist movements. Lausanne’s cultural afterlives, from its role in shaping archaeology, music, and education policy, to the short-lived invention and later erasure of “Lausanne Day” from Turkey’s official commemorative calendar are also covered in the book.Reckoning with Loss situates the 1923 treaty within broader histories of state-led population engineering, colonial eugenic practices, and the moral politics of international humanitarianism. The “peace” of Lausanne, the volume suggests, was neither absolute nor apolitical—it was crafted, contested, and constantly renegotiated. The book’s contributors collectively ask not only what peace meant in 1923, but also what it means today for those still living with its consequences.Through its interdisciplinary and transregional approach, Reckoning with Loss breaks new ground in Lausanne studies. It brings together historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, political scientists, and cultural theorists, and introduces voices and perspectives—Kurdish, Cypriot, Pontic, Albanian, and Cretan—that have been marginal to mainstream narratives. By weaving together policy analysis, oral history, cultural production, and historical research, the volume offers an expansive and textured account of one of the twentieth century’s most consequential, yet paradoxical, peace settlements.

In recent years, scholarly interest in the late Pahlavi period (1941–1979) has grown significantly and historians are increasingly approaching the era not merely as a prelude to the revolution, but as a period worthy of study in its own right. New generations of scholars have uncovered fresh sources and offered original perspectives on the cultural and social life of this era. Yet, opportunities for cross-disciplinary engagement among scholars from different fields who are exploring similar questions remain limited.This volume, the product of two international workshops at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna (4–5 July 2024) and the University of Marburg (27–29 November 2024), is a collection of the work of scholars at various stages of their careers (PhD students to professors) from various disciplines who investigate the cultural history of late Pahlavi Iran from a multiplicity of perspectives, including: archaeology, architecture, scholarship, media, art, film, literature, politics, religion, museums, music, philosophy, education and theatre.The volume’s chapters explore the interactions between state ideology and the socio-cultural sphere, exploring ideas such as: the influence of the press and literature on social discourses; the culturally strategic and identity-forming role of the performing arts; the relationship between state education policy and culture; the employment of foreign artists, architects, scholars and musicians in the context of Iran’s cultural diplomacy; and the dynamics of (state) religion, spirituality, nationalism and psychology in modern media or through their dissemination in the media. The volume explores not only the Pahlavi state’s direct participation in facilitating cultural activity or scholarly endeavours, but also how artists, writers, historians and other cultural actors flourished independent of (sometimes in spite of) the state apparatus.The volume does not seek to provide an encyclopaedic collection detailing every aspect of culture in the Pahlavi period, but the case studies explored demonstrate the breadth and complexities of this field in the historiography. Moreover, by shedding light on the various features of culture in the late Pahlavi era and encouraging multidisciplinary discussions, the volume aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the vibrant cultural life of Iran in this period.

From Cyrus the Great to the present day, Iran has been plagued by a recurrent syndrome of tyranny. For Ramin Jahanbegloo, the cure for this lies in a reengagement with the idea of a beautiful society. In Iran: Beauty and Tyranny he presents beauty as an antidote to authoritarianism, and as a methodology of freedom: one first taught by the philosophers of ancient Greece, who bound beauty and goodness together in the principle of kalokagathia, and later revived by the German Enlightenment. A work of hope and of faith in the people of Iran, this provocative and timely intervention from the author of The Idea of Persia turns to the past in order to imagine a way forward. Drawing on Hegel, Schiller, Arendt, Camus and more, Jahanbegloo lays out a vision of how Iran and Iranians might come to live in beautiful freedom.

In 1721, in his famous Lettres persane (The Persian Letters), the French philosopher Montesquieu posed the question ‘Comment peut-on être persan?’ The answer to that question is perhaps an even more wide-ranging, challenging and fascinating conundrum today. In his exploration of where such an answer might be found, the renowned contemporary philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo turns to the writings of the politician and diplomat Muhammad Ali Foroughi (1877-1942), and his vision of what ‘being’ a Persian might embrace. After centuries of invasion, murder, destruction and authoritarian rule, this philosophical investigation examines Montesquieu’s original question against a backdrop in which a common, plural subjectivity of Persian-ness has been frustrated for centuries, and at a time when the country is wrestling with the possibility of an extended period of political, social and cultural decline. Even so, the battle for social and political freedoms is still underway in Iran; and in The Idea of Persia, the concept of nationhood is presented as the means by which Iranians may liberate themselves from the heroes and saints of old, and remake their political mentality in a manner that stays true to an age-old idea of Persian-ness, and to the author’s own belief in freedom as a virtue that has to be taught.