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Islam Versus Consumerism and Postmodernism in the Context of IranDepartment of Politics, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom, hg11{at}york.ac.uk Based on the theoretical framework of religion and consumerism, the author explores the emergence of a material culture in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The major question is whether modern Iranian society, having established an Islamic state following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, has resisted consumerism, and therefore individualism, pluralism, hedonism and romanticism through ``self-thematizing Islamic religion''. Also, the author asks the opposite question, whether modern Iran displays ecumenism of ideas and the ``pluralization'' of life-worlds through commodification of everyday life and accepting consumerism. He concludes, first, that modern Iran, under the ``fundamentalist umbrella'' of the state, is in a situation of irony in terms of the theses of Gellner, Ahmed, Turner and Campbell, which claim that Islam typically stands against consumerism and, therefore, postmodernism. Iran largely accepts consumerism and globalization, despite the strong desire of the Islamic government for the Islamization of society. Second, modern Iran is in pursuit of hedonism, leisure and gratification, rather than other-worldly asceticism. Third, Iran exhibits a diversity of identities and differences of ideas and interests, which is theoretically in accord with ``social constructionism'' and practically associated more with pluralism and ecumenicalism than ``a self-reflective global system of cultural identity''.
Key Words: consumerism • diversity • globalization • identity • Iran • Islam • postmodernism
Social Compass, Vol. 54, No. 3,
389-418 (2007) |
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