The Muslim Left: Social Justice and Spirituality?

The contribution of this presentation is twofold: first, it will contextualizes and problematizes the discourse, diversity, and dynamism of the Iranian Muslim Left from Mohammad Nakhshab’s Movement of "Theist Socialists" to Ali Shariati’s trilogy of “Freedom, Social Justice and Spirituality”.

Second, it will shed light on new developments in the discourse of the Muslim Left in postrevolutionary Iran: it asks how post-revolutionary socio-political context has contributed to the rise of new thinking about Iranian social democracy, post-Islamist and post-structuralist trends among the contemporary Leftist Muslims.

This presentation will generate discussion about the new generation/trends of the left inside Iran (Vahabzadeh, Behrooz, and Maljoo), future prospects of the Left (Matin-Asgari, Matin, Vahabzadeh), and the intersection of gender, religion and social justice (Moghadam).